HOUSTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Despite aggressive management policies, China's oil use could easily reach levels comparable to today's U.S. levels by 2040, a U.S. think tank says.
Researchers at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University said China's recent efforts at centralizing energy policy do not appear to be significantly successful, a Rice release said Thursday.
In fact, the U.S. system of open and competitive private sector investment is stimulating more innovation in the American energy sector than is being seen in the Chinese energy industry, the institute's study found.
Much of the increase in Chinese oil consumption comes from an explosion in the number of vehicles on the road, it found.
The number of vehicles on the road in China has quadrupled in recent years to more than 50 million despite sporadic government attempts to discourage private car ownership.
"Given the scale of vehicle stock growth in China, it is going to be extremely difficult to move the needle of the country's rising transport fuel outlook," study author Kenneth Medlock said.
