Evolution of China's Urban Energy Consumption Structure—A Case Study in Beijing

China is a coal-based energy consuming country. The proportion of coal is up to 70% in the energy consumption structure in 1990s. In the past 20 years, driven by energy saving policy, China's energy consumption structure has undergone great changes, especially in urban areas. This paper explores the evolution of energy-use structure at the national level and the level of Beijing City in China. Four major energy sources were considered, including coal, oil, natural gas and electricity. The dataset was collected from 1990 to 2012. The results show that the proportion of coal consumption decreased by approximately 20% from 1990 to 2012 at the national level in compare with nearly 50% at the level of Beijing City. Furthermore, the proportion of natural gas consumption and other clean energies rose. In Beijing the natural gas and other clean energies account for over 60% of the total energy in 2012, which played an important role in improving the local environment.