Business news briefs for 7/21/10

oil and coal to wind and solar power Agency: China becomes biggest energy consumer China has overtaken the United States as the world's largest energy lingker consumer, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. China immediately questioned the report, claiming its calculations were "unreliable." The Paris-based agency said China's 2009 consumption of energy sources ranging from oil and coal to wind and solar power was equal to 2.265 billion tons of oil, compared to 2.169 billion tons used that year by the United States. The shift is historic, coming years ahead of forecasts. According to the IEA statistics, China's energy consumption has more than doubled in less than a decade, from 1.107 billion tons in 2000 -- driven by its burgeoning population and economic growth that hit 11.9 percent in the first quarter of this year.

Honda plans to sell electric cars by 2012 Honda will start selling an electric vehicle as well as a plug-in hybrid in 2012 in the U.S. and Japan, joining the race to manufacture green cars in which rivals have already taken slight leads. Honda Motor Co. President Takanobu Ito disclosed the plans Tuesday. Mr. Ito declined to give details of the vehicles but said green technology was becoming increasingly important in the auto industry. Tokyo-based Honda, Japan's No. 2 automaker, now makes the Insight and CR-Z hybrids but has not given concrete plans for a plug-in or EV previously'.

Report: Airlines still shrinking work forces The government said airline work forces shrank by 2.7 percent in May from a year earlier. It marked the 23rd straight month in which airline employment has declined. U.S. airlines have laid off thousands of workers in the last year as the economy sputtered. They're also shifting more jobs outside of the U.S., where labor is cheaper. Airlines are hesitant to start hiring despite a better economy, choosing instead to build up cash reserves. The Transportation Department said Tuesday that scheduled passenger airlines employed 377,000 workers in May, 10,500 less than a year earlier.