Earlier quoted context omitted.
> or people who actually study these things How do you define "actually study" here, and what makes you think the author didn't study the topic at all? Its totally fine if you disagree with the author's view or have additional information that they missed or didn't consider. Writing it off as coming from someone who didn't "actually study" the topic is unnecessarily dismissive.
The fact that US gdp and population has grown while energy inputs have stayed flat is an important measure of both the energy efficiency of an economy and the mix of sources of gdp. "Energy intensity" is a measure of PPP gdp per capita per kg of oil. If you want to grow your economy then you either improve energy intensity (get more gdp for the same or less energy) or find new energy sources. China wants to reduce th…
Part of their argument, and arguably also quite apparent fact, is that this is not efficiency improvement - it's just outsourcing the energy-intensive parts of the process abroad. This makes treating energy intensity as a measurement of efficiency just an accounting trick.
It's the same kind of trick as e.g. Germany shutting down its clean power plants, covering the energy deficit by buying electricity produced in coal plants abroad, and then claiming, "look ma, no emissions, no nuclear, so green".
Supply and demand goes both ways. You don't get to outsource the important parts and then claim they don't count because you're just buying - it's not like manufacturing or electricity production are natural phenomena you're just tapping into. The buying is what makes them exist, whether or not it's within or outside your borders.