China's energy consumption to peak by 2035: report

Technicians check shale gas transport facilities in Chongqing. China is believed to possess the world's biggest estimated technically recoverable shale gas resources.[Provided to China Daily]

BEIJING - China's energy consumption will peak at 3.75 billion tons of oil equivalent by around 2035, a research report forecast on Tuesday.

The country's fossil fuel usage will peak by 2030 at 2.93 billion tons of oil equivalent, according to the report by China National Petroleum Corp. Economics & Technology Research Institute.

It said China will also see its energy mix become cleaner, with non-fossil fuels accounting for more than 30 percent of the energy mix by 2050, up from current 12 percent.

Although coal will remain the dominant energy source by 2050, its proportion in China's primary energy mix may fall to 37 percent as the country uses more natural gas and non-fossil fuels, the report said.

Coal accounted for 64 percent of China's primary energy consumption last year.

To cut carbon emissions and control air pollution, China has been trying to change its energy mix and increase the use of non-fossil fuels such as solar, wind, hydropower and nuclear energy.

According to a national plan released in 2014, the share of non-fossil fuels in the primary energy mix will rise to 15 percent by 2020.