Assessment of energy supply vulnerability between China and USA

Abstract

USA and China are the two largest energy-consuming countries, and energy supply vulnerability is a prior topic on energy policy. Then, we develop energy supply vulnerability assessment index including the sustainability, the stability, the reliability, and the diversification indicators to assess and compare the change of energy supply vulnerability between China and USA based on the data in 2001–2010. We found that the fluctuations of energy supply vulnerability in China are more than those of USA. In 2001–2006, the index of China’s energy supply vulnerability presented a quick uptrend, but it presented a slow downtrend in 2007–2010 due to the uncertainty of some indicators; energy supply vulnerability of USA presented smaller change from 2000 to 2008 because of the stable and comprehensive energy supply system, but in 2009 and 2010, it became obviously less than those in other years due to the decline of energy consumption per capita. Additionally, Chinese energy supply also faces higher maritime transportation and geopolitical vulnerability than that of USA. The comparisons of the change of energy supply vulnerability between China and USA show that it is important to develop comprehensive energy supply system to reduce the uncertainty of main effect indicators, such as the control of energy consumption growth, and the diversification of energy supply and import.