China's coal consumption vastly underestimated since 2000

China has been burning as much as 17% more coal each year than previously reported, potentially adding up almost a billion more tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the last 15 years, The New York Times reported, citing a revision to the National Bureau of Statistics energy yearbook. The adjusted data show that consumption has been underestimated since 2000, particularly in recent years. “Our basic data will have to be adjusted, and the international agencies will also have to adjust their databases,” said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University. “This is troublesome because many forecasts and commitments were based on the previous data.”