China's emissions rose by some 10% in 2005, a senior U.S. scientist estimated, while Beijing data shows fuel consumption rose more than 9% in 2006, suggesting China would easily outstrip the U.S. this year, long before forecasts.
"It looks likely to me that China will pass the United States this year," said Gregg Marland, a senior staff scientist at the U.S. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), which supplies data to governments, researchers and non-governmental organisations worldwide. "There's a very high likelihood they'll pass them in 2007."
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