China Overtakes US as Top Energy Consumer

LONDON (AP) -- A new report says that China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest consumer of energy.

Oil company BP said Wednesday that China moved to the top in 2010 with 20.3 percent of global demand, ahead of the United States at 19 percent.

The report says China's consumption rose by 11.2 percent last year compared with 3.7 percent in the United States. China's surge led a 5.6 percent increase in global energy demand, the biggest one-year jump since 1973.

China was by far the world's largest consumer of coal, taking 48 percent. The United States remained the largest consumer of oil with 21 percent of global demand, double China's consumption.