OREANDA-NEWS. August 14, 2014. There are a lot of people in China, and, apparently, these days, a lot of those lots of people are thinking in depth about energy issues.

According to the Energy Information Administration, China’s lots of people led to one major feat: They are now the largest energy producer and the largest energy consumer in the world, overtaking the U.S., finally, in areas like oil, coal and natural gas—and, of course, they’ve been the largest power generator around the globe since 2011.

If you know nothing else about the Chinese power powerhouse, here are 5 facts to start a watercooler conversation today.

1. China’s going green.

No, seriously. The EIA notes that China is looking at certain concepts in the energy industry to promote even more growth, including market pricing, energy efficiency (EE), competition and renewable projects.

The push for renewables and efficiency may seem odd for a country with a heavy industrial base, but China has suffered from serious pollution issues in recent years and is looking to relieve smog in major industrial cities by offsetting coal with nuclear, renewables, natural gas and EE measures.

The country has a goal of 15% renewable generation by 2020 (echoing the European 20/20 renewables goals).

The EIA continues: “Chinese companies invested USD65 billion in renewable energy projects in 2012, 20% higher than investments in 2011, and they plan to spend \\$473 billion on clean energy investments between 2011 and 2015, according to the country's Five-Year Plan.”

IBM Research is on board with this initiative, too. They launched a 10-year initiative this summer to support China’s green push.  Dubbed “Green Horizon,” the partnership (which includes the Beijing Municipal Government) will focus on urban air quality management, renewable energy forecasting and energy optimization.

2. The former state run biz is now eyeing private money.

According to the EIA, one of the biggest news on the energy scene in China: Last year they started to look at upping private investments by making approvals easier and fostering transmission links—a lot of it focuses on renewables.

What a huge change since the country dismantled the state-run electric monopoly in 2002. Now, generation is still heavily in hand of the state with five (still state-owned) generators, along with state-owned transmission and distribution companies, but the country has made massive leaps toward more competitive power in just a decade.

The EIA adds: “China is encouraging investment in renewable energy and accompanying transmission infrastructure through a variety of financial and economic incentives.”

3. They’ve got smart grid & T&D plans that will make you envious.

Here, there’s a bit of joy with state-owned companies. A lot can get done in just a little time. The first phase of China’s massive, country-wide smart grid plan was completed in 2012. The second phase will be completed in 2020.

According to a report this year by GlobalData, China leada all of Asia in the areas of smart grid and T&D, including heavy investment in ultra high voltage (UHV) transmission (to facilitate that renewables growth).

All of this is part of a USD75.5 billion plan to build a UHV infrastructure by next year (yes, by 2015).

“The focus of the Chinese government clearly lies on grid modernization and improving efficiency. The government set a target to interconnect its existing grids and form an integrated synchronous national grid by the end of 2020. This will help to facilitate the efficient transfer of electricity in order to meet growing power demands, as well as demands from the renewable energy sector,” added Siddhartha Raina, senior analyst for GlobalData.

4. China’s on the board with energy efficiency.

In fact, according to the nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), it’s #4 (and tied with France). (For reference, we in the U.S. are down at 13. Germany is #1, just like the World Cup.)

Mandatory codes made the country first in building energy efficiency.  Residential buildings consumer less energy than in any other country and commercial buildings were second.  Obviously, building efficiency is what pushed them up so very high, but, combined with the push for renewables, this is a significant new horizon for China—and they’re acting on it fast and, well, efficiently.

5. China’s not just buying into smart grid; it’s selling it, too.

According to research with IHS Technology’s analyst Julia Zhu in Shanghai, production reached over 118 million units last year and, while some of that is for the state-owned power distribution company’s smart grid push, exports are a growing thought in the production.

“The export demand is recognized as one of the critical growth points of China’s electricity meter industry. China’s smart meters have been shipped to more than 130 countries worldwide,” she said, pointing out that more than 30 million were shipped abroad last year.

That’s expected—by IHS and others—to continue to grow.