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Indicator Assessment
Between 1990 and 2007, economic growth in Europe required increasing but less and less energy inputs. Total energy consumption increased until 2004 and stabilized all the way through 2006. In 2008 there was an absolute decoupling of economic growth and energy consumption, with the latter decreasing by 0.5% compared to 2007 while GDP continued to grow. Over the period 1990-2008, GDP grew at an annual average rate of 2.1% and total energy consumption at an annual average rate of 0.4%. As a result, total energy intensity in the EU fell at an annual average rate of 1.6%
Trends in total energy intensity, gross domestic product and total energy consumption, EU-27
Note: Total energy consumption in the EU-27 grew at an average annual rate of 0.4 % over the period from 1990 to 2008, while Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in constant prices grew at an average annual rate of 2.1 % during the same period. As a result, total energy intensity in the EU-27 fell at an average rate of 1.6 % per year.
Eurostat. Gross inland energy consumption. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/energy/data/database
Eurostat. Gross domestic product. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/national_accounts/data/database
Ameco. GDP growth rates used in the estimation of missing Eurostat data from European Commission Ameco database.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/indicators/annual_macro_economic_database/ameco_en.htm
Eurostat. Energy consumption: Supply, transformation, consumption - all products - annual data. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=nrg_100a&lang=en
Total energy intensity 1995-2008 (index 1995=100), relative energy intensity (as PPS) and per capita consumption
Note: There are significant differences in total energy intensity within the EU-27 Member States, with the highest values in Bulgaria, Estonia and Finland – due to the presence of large energy intensive industries like steel and cement industries and the lowest in Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Malta (when compared at Purchasing Power Standards) - partly explained by a relatively large services sector and small industry sector.
Ameco. GDP growth rates used in the estimation of missing Eurostat data from European Commission Ameco database.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/indicators/annual_macro_economic_database/ameco_en.htm
Eurostat. Energy consumption: Supply, transformation, consumption - all products - annual data. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=nrg_100a&lang=en
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-6 or scan the QR code.
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