China surpasses U.S. in energy consumption

China's energy consumption in 2009, the equivalent of burning 2.3 billion tons of oil, outpaced the United States by 4 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported.

That put the United States in second place in energy consumption for the first time in more than 100 years.

"The fact that China overtook the U.S. as the world's largest energy consumer symbolizes the start of a new age in the history of energy," said IEA chief economist Fatih Birol.

The United States maintains its ranking as the top energy consumer per capita, where it out-consumes China five to one.

The United States also burns up more oil per day than China - 19 million barrels per day compared with 9.2 million in China. Most of the electricity in China, in contrast, is produced by burning coal.

But in overall energy consumption, including natural gas, nuclear power, hydropower and alternative sources, China took the lead.

Looking forward, Birol said China has set a goal of producing 1,000 gigawatts of electricity from new power plants by 2015 – roughly the equivalent of the amount of electricity currently used in the United States.

"This demonstrates the major growth we are talking about," he said.