China's Coal Consumption Rivals That of the World

By now, most people are well aware of the fact that China is facing a major air pollution crisis, and that several of its regions are pretty much engulfed in smoke.

Just for the record, it looks like the country has brought this upon itself, simply by burning a tad too much coal. 

According to Time, China's current coal consumption is nothing if not likely to give the global coal consumption a run for its money.

More precisely, the year 2011 witnessed China's burning a total of 3.8 billion tons of this dirty energy source, whereas all the other nations in the world consumed a total of 4.3 billion tons of coal.

Granted, coal is a relatively cheap energy source of energy, yet this does not change the fact that it also constitutes a major threat to both the environment and public health.

Therefore, China must soon figure out a way to green up its energy industry.