No - Automobile sales in China in August 2008 shrank 6.3% year on year to 629,000 units, the first fall in about two years, due to higher fuel prices.
Chinese GDP growth has dropped by about 1/3 recently - see http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/10/middle_kingdom.html .
Chinese are much more aggressive than the US about replacement of oil-based electrical generation with coal and nuclear; energy efficiency (especially automotive); and PHEVs/EV's.
Regarding competing with China for imported oil: the US produces at least 40% of it's own oil, so a 20% reduction of overall consumption is a 33% reduction in imports. I would note that the US reduced it's oil imports by about 15% recently, even before this credit crunch hit.
China, already a global center for lithium-ion battery component production and battery manufacturing, is ramping up its research and development efforts in the field, both within the private sector and with government support.
Very good blog, in this world, every country is constantly developing new energy technologies
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