China is wasteful user of power

The same city government that orders local factories to shut down in the name of energy conservation also forces skyscrapers to keep lights on so that investment bankers digging into their foie gras at waterfront eateries can gaze upon a glittering homage to modern China.

…But the contrasts in this and many other Chinese cities — austerity side by side with state-mandated extravagance — reveals another reason this country now scours the globe for energy: China has become among the world’s most wasteful users of power, its growth in demand exacerbated by its striking inefficiency, say energy analysts and economists.

Orlando Sentinel