Back in June 2007 China earned the dubious distinction of surpassing the U.S. to become the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases.  Now approximately three years later, the highly populated country has become the world's largest consumer of energy.

The news that China may now be the world biggest energy customer comes based on analysis by the International Energy Agency (IEA).  According to the IEA, China overtook the U.S. in energy consumption sometime last year.

Despite having over 1.3 billion people, versus about 307 million in the U.S., China's new title may be primarily driven by the inefficient way it uses energy.  While the U.S. has improved its energy efficiency by 2.5 percent per year from 2000 to 2010, China only improved 1.7 percent.

While the U.S. still trails Europe in energy efficiency, it is consuming much less power as time goes on.  States Fatih Birol, the IEA's chief economist, "In the 2000, the US consumed twice as much energy as China, now China consumes more than the U.S. On the one hand, the U.S. has come to a certain saturation of energy use, but there have also been lots of efforts, especially since 2005, to use energy more efficiently."

As Birol indicates, the Chinese victory came as somewhat of a surprise, as it was widely expected to take a couple more years for the Chinese to surpass the U.S. in energy consumption.  But the the numbers conclusively show that last year China used 4 percent more power than the U.S. -- 2,252 million tons of oil equivalent of energy from sources including coal, oil, nuclear power, natural gas and hydropower.

The IEA states that China, as the world's top dog in energy consumption, will be able to dictate international energy policy to an extent.  States Birol, "There will be a big multiplier effect."

The U.S. in recent years has been concerned with China's energy hunger.  Disdainful of China's proposed "voluntary" emissions targets, the U.S. has also shown concern about China's aggressive pursuit of Kazakhstan oil.

Three years ago China was a net exporter of coal.  This year it is expected to import 105-115 million tonnes of coal, to surpass Japan as the world's largest coal importer.  China is also now Saudi Arabia's largest oil customer -- a position held for decades by the U.S.  Money speaks and that position will likely have a profound effect on international business and relations in the Middle East.

Nobuo Tanaka, the IEA's secretary-general, has been trying to convince China to join the IEA since March.  The organization, which represents the largest energy consumers in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) helps push for alternative energy and greater energy efficiency.