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Indicator Assessment
Economic growth has required less additional energy consumption over the 1990s, although total energy consumption is still increasing. However, since 2000 the rate of decrease in energy intensity has slowed, remaining almost stable to 2004. This was due to a slowdown in the rate of GDP growth, while energy consumption continued to rise strongly.
Total energy consumption in the EU-25 grew at an annual rate of just over 0.8 % over the period from 1990 to 2004, while Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an average annual rate of 2.1 % during the same period. As a result, total energy intensity in the EU-25 fell at an average rate of -1.2 % per year. Despite this relative decoupling, total energy consumption has increased by 12.0 % overall in the period 1990-2004. Energy intensity declined over 1990-2000 (and continuously during 1996-2000) but has remained broadly stable since then.
The reduction of total energy intensity has been influenced both by improvements in energy efficiency and structural changes within the economy. The latter included a shift from industry towards services, which are typically less energy intensive, a shift within the industrial sector from energy intensive industries towards higher value added, less energy intensive industries , and one-off changes in some Member States (e.g. most new Member States as well as Luxembourg and Germany). Furthermore, improvements in the efficiency of power generation as well as in the intensity in some end-use sectors (industry and services) contributed to the reduced overall energy intensity.
There are significant differences in total energy intensity within the EU-25 Member States, with the highest 'economic' intensities (i.e. intensities in terms of GDP) in Estonia, Finland and Slovakia and the lowest in Ireland, Italy and Denmark (when compared at Purchasing Power Standards). Total energy intensity in the new EU-10 Member States is on average still around 1.4 times higher than in the pre-2004 EU-15 Member States, despite a converging trend.
Energy intensity is a measure of total energy consumption in relation to economic activity. Total energy consumption by fuel (see relevant core set indicator) is needed in addition for understanding the resulting pressures on the environment, since these pressures are very different for the various fuels and the use of renewable energy sources, with relatively low environmental pressures, in total energy consumption varies widely across EU countries. Therefore, comparing energy intensities across countries has to be put in the wider context of the fuel mix used in the production of the energy needs of a country.
Total energy intensity is the ratio between the gross inland consumption of energy (or total energy consumption) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) calculated for a calendar year. The gross inland consumption of energy is calculated as the sum of the gross inland consumption of the five sources of energy: solid fuels, oil, gas, nuclear and renewable sources. To monitor trends, GDP is in constant prices to avoid the impact of inflation, base year 2000.
Units: Gross inland energy consumption is measured in 1000 tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) and GDP in million Euro at 2000 market prices. To make comparisons of trends across countries more meaningful, the indicator is presented as an index. For country comparisons, two additional columns are included to show the actual energy intensity in GDP in purchasing power standards for the latest available year, and also the energy intensity in terms of consumption per capita.
Gross inland energy consumption is measured in 1000 tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) and GDP in million Euro at 2000 market prices. To make comparisons of trends across countries more meaningful, the indicator is presented as an index. For country comparisons, two additional columns are included to show the actual energy intensity in GDP in purchasing power standards for the latest available year, and also the energy intensity in terms of consumption per capita.
A Roadmap for moving to a competitive low carbon economy in 2050 (COM(2011) 112 final).Presents a roadmap for action in line with a 80-95% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2050.
Energy Efficiency Plan 2011 (COM(2011) 109 final).Proposes additional measures to achieve the 20 % primary energy saving target by 2020.
Energy 2020 – A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy (COM(2010) 639 final).Energy efficiency is the first of the five priorities of the new energy strategy defined by the Commission.
Council adopted on 6 April 2009 the climate-energy legislative package containing measures to fight climate change and promote renewable energy. This package is designed to achieve the EU's overall environmental target of a 20 % reduction in greenhouse gases and a 20 % share of renewable energy in the EU's total energy consumption by 2020.The climate action and renewable energy (CARE) package includes the following main policy documents:
Second Strategic Energy Review; COM(2008) 781 final. Strategic review on short, medium and long term targets on EU energy security.
The EU Action Plan for Energy Efficiency (COM (2006)545 final) aims to boost the cost-effective and efficient use of energy in the EU. One of the priority areas is making power generation and distribution more efficient.
Methodology and frequency of data collection
Data collected annually.
Eurostat definitions and concepts for energy statistics http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_SDDS/en/nrg_quant_esms.htm
Methodology of data manipulation:
The primary energy intensity ( primary energy consumption per GDP), measures how much energy is required to generate one unit of GDP. Its variation over time reflects the influence of various factors, which include energy efficiency improvements but also changes in the nature if the economic activity (the “economic structure”) or in the structure of the energy mix, changes in lifestyle (more appliances, higher indoor temperature in dwellings, more cars) etc
Total energy intensity (TEI) is defined as gross/total inland energy consumption (GIEC) divided by gross domestic product (GDP) at constant (2000) prices (i.e. to illustrate trends in economic energy intensity). The coding (used in the Eurostat New Cronos database) and specific components of the indicator are:
Average annual rate of growth calculated using: [(last year / base year) ^ (1 / number of years) –1]*100
GDP for EU-27 is not available in Eurostat before 1995 due to lack of data for some countries such as : Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Poland and Portugal (1990-1994), Slovakia (1990-91), Germany (1990), Estonia (1990-92), Romania (1990-1998) and Malta (1990-1999). The GDP growth rate published by the World Bank (reference World Development Indicators 2011) were used as an additional data source for filling the gaps before 1995. GDP for EU-27 as a whole and EEA countries has been calculated as a sum.
To compare the situation among countries and make a more realistic comparison, the energy intensity need to be corrected to take into account differences in the general prices level; for that purpose, the GDP should be expressed in purchasing power parities. This is particularly true for new Eastern Member countries where the average price level is much lower than in the EU-15 countries: after adjustment the total energy intensities of these countries is on average twice lower than the values measured with exchange rates, and are more in line with other EU countries.
Data source
Gross inland energy consumption, Gross domestic product: Eurostat (historical data) http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/
GDP growth rate: World Bank (World Development Indicators 2011) http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/world-development-indicators
Total Primary Energy Supply non-European countries: IEA http://data.iea.org/IEASTORE/DEFAULT.ASP
Geographical coverage
The Agency had 32 member countries at the time of writing of this fact sheet. These are the 27 European Union Member States and Turkey, plus the countries Iceland, Switzerland and Norway. Iceland has not been considered in the analysis due to lack of data after 2006. Table 1 also covers data of the World, United States, China, India, Russia, the Middle East and Africa
Temporal coverage
1990-2009
No gap filling is necessary.
No methodology references available.
There is no GDP available from Eurostat for the EU-27 in 1990. Moreover, data was not available for a particular year for some EU-27 Member States. The intensity of energy consumption is relative to changes in real GDP. Cross-country comparisons of energy intensity based on real GDP are relevant for trends but not for comparing energy intensity levels in specific years and specific countries. This is why the indicator is expressed as an index. In order to compare the energy intensity between countries for a specific year, two additional columns are included showing energy intensity in purchasing power standards (PPS) and energy intensity per capita. PPS are currency conversion rates that convert to a common currency and equalise the purchasing power of different currencies. They are an optimal unit for benchmarking country performance in a particular year.
Energy intensity is not sufficient for measuring the environmental impact of energy use and production. Even when two countries have the same energy intensity or show the same trend over time there could be important environmental differences between them. The link to environmental pressures has to be made on the basis of the absolute amounts of the different fuels used to produce that energy. Energy intensity should therefore always be put in the broader context of the actual fuel mix used to generate the energy.
Strengths and weaknesses (at data level)
Data have been traditionally compiled by Eurostat through the annual Joint Questionnaires, shared by Eurostat and the International Energy Agency, following a well established and harmonised methodology. Methodological information on the annual Joint Questionnaires and data compilation can be found in Eurostat's web page for metadata on energy statistics. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_SDDS/en/nrg_quant_esms.htm
Gross domestic product (GDP) is the central aggregate of National Accounts. Some estimates have been necessary using the procedure described in 6. Methodological information related to GDP can be found on Eurostat’s website.
Indicator uncertainty (historic data)
There is no GDP available from Eurostat for the EU-27 before 1995. Moreover, data was not available for a particular year for some EU-27 Member States. The intensity of energy consumption is relative to changes in real GDP. Cross-country comparisons of energy intensity based on real GDP are relevant for trends but not for comparing energy intensity levels in specific years and specific countries. This is why the indicator is expressed as an index. In order to compare the energy intensity between countries for a specific year, two additional columns are included showing energy intensity in purchasing power standards (PPS) and energy intensity per capita. PPS are currency conversion rates that convert to a common currency and equalise the purchasing power of different currencies. They are an optimal unit for benchmarking country performance in a particular year. Energy intensity should therefore always be put in the broader context of the actual fuel mix used to generate the energy.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/total-primary-energy-intensity/total-primary-energy-intensity-assessment-2 or scan the QR code.
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