The two countries, world leaders in population size, will be crucial drivers in world economic growth and the consumption of energy. But measuring future trends with any accuracy has been a difficult prospect for organizations like the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), which released a report on China and India on November 21. China’s economic growth has been continually revised by the EIA over the years. In 1990, it was estimated that China’s economy would grow by 4.5 percent between 1990 and 2000. In fact, China achieved an average of 10.4 percent per year during that time, and maintained that rate between 2000 and 2010. A peak rate was reached in 2007 when the Chinese economy grew by 14.2 percent. Its growth rate has subsequently slowed, with 2016 seeing the slowest rate (6.7 percent) in twenty-five years. The EIA’s total energy consumption projection for China was consequently way off […]