When China Becomes Turkey

There is a considerable amount of discussion and concern regarding the global impact as the Chinese produce an increasingly larger middle class.  What happens when China develops a middle class that has the consumption desires of the U.S. middle class?

Consider what consumption of energy resources will look like when China becomes not the United States, but Turkey:

China

• Electricity Consumption - - 2,585 kWH per person
• Oil Consumption - - 0.25 gallons per day per person
• Natural Gas Consumption - - 61 cubic meters per person

Turkey

• Electricity Consumption - - 2,550 kWH per person
• Oil Consumption - - 0.34 gallons per day per person
• Natural Gas Consumption - - 413 cubic meters per person

As you can see, China is already Turkey regarding electricity consumption.  For China to become Turkey in terms of oil consumption, it will require approximately 2.85 million barrels of additional oil per day.

Strains in our energy systems will happen long before China becomes the U.S. - - becoming Turkey will have huge impacts.