Second peak in Chinese CO2 emissions per dollar of GDP: 1.8. The first peak was that of Mao’s China and the Great Leap Forward: greater than 3.0. The second peak is due to industrialization resulting from Deng Xiaoping’s opening to free markets and the flow of capital. In the US it is 0.7, and globally 0.4. In China it will then progressively decline to 0.5 at the beginning of the 21st century. In fact, we move from firewood (with a ratio of carbon to hydrogen atoms of 10:1), to coal (2:1), to oil (1:2), to natural gas (1:4 CH4).
