Energy Indicators
organizes social, economic, and environmental energy indicators, reproduces the SOC, ECO, and ENV tables, and explains their data foundations and scope boundaries
Energy Indicators
Energy indicators are a tool for summarizing information and monitoring trends that reflect various aspects of a country’s energy situation over time. A number of indicators can be compiled from basic energy statistics, energy balances and energy accounts [IRES, Ch. XI, para. 11.29, PDF p. 152, 2018]. The choice of the set of indicators compiled by a country depends on national circumstances and priorities, sustainability and development criteria and objectives, as well as data availability [IRES, Ch. XI, para. 11.30, PDF p. 152, 2018].
Source and organizing dimensions
Examples of core indicators for sustainable development are provided in a joint publication by several international organizations: Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies (IAEA, UNDESA, IEA, Eurostat, EEA — Vienna, 2005) [IRES, Ch. XI, para. 11.31, footnote 87, PDF p. 152, 2018]. These indicators are organized in three dimensions — social, economic and environmental — as well as according to theme and sub-theme; Tables 11.1–11.3 present energy indicators organized according to these three dimensions. Most of them can be derived from the data items presented in Chapter VI (see Data Items on Energy Flows and Stocks); however, for some indicators additional information needs to be collected/compiled (e.g., persons and/or freight tonnage transported times distance travelled, floor area, etc.) [IRES, Ch. XI, para. 11.31, PDF p. 152, 2018]. Because this joint publication precedes the work on IRES, the terminology used for the underlying data items is not always compliant with IRES [IRES, Ch. XI, para. 11.31, footnote 88, PDF p. 152, 2018].
Table 11.1 — Energy Indicators linked to the social dimension
| Theme | Sub-theme | Energy Indicator | Components |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equity | Accessibility (SOC1) | Share of households (or population) without electricity or commercial energy, or heavily dependent on non-commercial energy | •• Households (or population) without electricity or commercial energy, or heavily dependent on noncommercial energy•• Total number of households or population |
| Equity | Affordability (SOC2) | Share of household income spent on fuel and electricity | •• Household income spent on fuel and electricity•• Household income (total and poorest 20 per cent of population) |
| Equity | Disparities (SOC3) | Household energy use for each income group and corresponding fuel mix | •• Energy use per household for each income group (quintiles)•• Household income for each income group (quintiles)•• Corresponding fuel mix for each income group (quintiles) |
| Health | Safety (SOC4) | Accident fatalities per unit of energy produced by fuel chain | •• Annual fatalities by fuel chain•• Annual energy produced |
[IRES, Ch. XI, Table 11.1, PDF p. 152, 2018]
Table 11.2 — Energy Indicators linked to the economic dimension
| Theme | Sub-theme | Energy Indicator | Components |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use and production patterns | Overall use (ECO1) | Energy use per capita | •• Energy use (total primary energy supply, total final consumption and electricity use)•• Total population |
| Use and production patterns | Overall productivity (ECO2) | Energy use per unit of GDP | •• Energy use (total primary energy supply, total final consumption and electricity use)•• GDP |
| Use and production patterns | Supply efficiency (ECO3) | Efficiency of energy conversion and distribution | •• Losses in transformation systems, including losses in electricity generation, transmission and distribution |
| Use and production patterns | Production (ECO4) | Reserves-to-production ratio | •• Proven recoverable reserves•• Total energy production |
| Use and production patterns | Production (ECO5) | Resources-to-production ratio | •• Total estimated resources•• Total energy production |
| Use and production patterns | End use (ECO6) | Industrial energy intensities | •• Energy use in industrial sector and by manufacturing branch•• Corresponding value added |
| Use and production patterns | End use (ECO7) | Agricultural energy intensities | •• Energy use in agricultural sector•• Corresponding value added |
| Use and production patterns | End use (ECO8) | Service/commercial energy intensities | •• Energy use in service/commercial sector•• Corresponding value added |
| Use and production patterns | End use (ECO9) | Household energy intensities | •• Energy use in households and by key end use•• Number of households, floor area, persons per household, appliance ownership |
| Use and production patterns | End use (ECO10) | Transport energy intensities | •• Energy use in passenger travel and freight sectors and by mode•• Passenger-km travel and metric ton-km freight and by mode |
| Use and production patterns | Diversification (fuel mix) (ECO11) | Fuel shares in energy and electricity | •• Primary energy supply and final consumption, electricity generation and generating capacity by fuel type•• Total primary energy supply, total final consumption, total electricity generation and total generating capacity |
| Use and production patterns | Diversification (fuel mix) (ECO12) | Non-carbon energy share in energy and electricity | •• Primary supply, electricity generation and generating capacity by non-carbon energy•• Total primary energy supply, total electricity generation and total generating capacity |
| Use and production patterns | Diversification (fuel mix) (ECO13) | Renewable energy share in energy and electricity | •• Primary energy supply, final consumption and electricity generation and generating capacity by renewable energy•• Total primary energy supply, total final consumption, total electricity generation and total generating capacity |
| Security | Prices (ECO14) | End-use energy prices by fuel and by sector | •• Energy prices (with and without tax/subsidy) |
| Security | Imports (ECO15) | Net energy import dependency | •• Energy imports•• Total primary energy supply |
| Security | Strategic fuel stocks (ECO16) | Stocks of critical fuels per corresponding fuel consumption | •• Stocks of critical fuel (e.g., oil, gas, etc.)•• Critical fuel consumption |
[IRES, Ch. XI, Table 11.2, PDF p. 153, 2018]
Four indicators (ECO1, ECO2, ECO11, ECO13) explicitly use total primary energy supply and total final consumption by name as components — see those pages for the underlying aggregate definitions.
Table 11.3 — Energy Indicators linked to the environmental dimension
| Theme | Sub-theme | Energy Indicator | Components |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atmosphere | Climate change (ENV1) | GHG emissions from energy production and use per capita and per unit of GDP | •• GHG emissions from energy production and use•• Population and GDP |
| Atmosphere | Air quality (ENV2) | Ambient concentrations of air pollutants in urban areas | •• Concentrations of pollutants in air |
| Atmosphere | Air quality (ENV3) | Air pollutant emissions from energy systems | •• Air pollutant emissions |
| Water | Water quality (ENV4) | Contaminant discharges in liquid effluents from energy systems, including oil discharges | •• Contaminant discharges in liquid effluents |
| Land | Soil quality (ENV5) | Soil area where acidification exceeds critical load | •• Affected soil area•• Critical load |
| Land | Forest (ENV6) | Rate of deforestation attributed to energy use | •• Forest area at two different times•• Biomass utilization |
| Land | Solid waste generation and management (ENV7) | Ratio of solid waste generation to units of energy produced | •• Amount of solid waste•• Energy produced |
| Land | Solid waste generation and management (ENV8) | Ratio of solid waste properly disposed of to total generated solid waste | •• Amount of solid waste properly disposed of•• Total amount of solid waste |
| Land | Solid waste generation and management (ENV9) | Ratio of solid radioactive waste to units of energy produced | •• Amount of radioactive waste (cumulative for a selected period of time)•• Energy produced |
| Land | Solid waste generation and management (ENV10) | Ratio of solid radioactive waste awaiting disposal to total generated solid radioactive waste | •• Amount of radioactive waste awaiting disposal•• Total volume of radioactive waste |
[IRES, Ch. XI, Table 11.3, PDF p. 154, 2018]
ENV1 links this table directly to greenhouse gas emissions: it is the sole environmental-dimension indicator built on GHG emissions data rather than physical energy quantities alone.
Energy efficiency indicators (out of scope)
There is a growing interest in energy efficiency indicators, and work is being carried out — most notably by the International Energy Agency — to review current practices at the national level and provide guidance on concepts and methods. While the importance of these indicators is recognized, many require additional levels of detail beyond the data items presented in the Chapter VI list, and therefore not all are presented in this chapter [IRES, Ch. XI, para. 11.32, PDF p. 152, 2018].
Recommendation 11.33
The list of indicators presented in this chapter is not exhaustive. Countries are encouraged to develop the list of relevant indicators according to their policy concerns and data availability [IRES, Ch. XI, para. 11.33, PDF p. 152, 2018] — recommendations tracker row XI/11.33.
Related
- IRES Chapter XI — Uses of Basic Energy Statistics and Balances — the chapter digest this page supports (Section C)
- Total Energy Supply and Total Final Consumption — the two headline balance aggregates named directly as components of ECO1, ECO2, ECO11 and ECO13
- Energy Products — the product-level detail behind fuel-mix and fuel-share indicators (ECO11–ECO13)
- Data Items on Energy Flows and Stocks — the Chapter VI data items most of these indicators are derived from
- Energy Balance and Energy Accounts — the two compilation frameworks that can source indicator data alongside basic energy statistics
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions — the data source and method behind ENV1, the sole GHG-based environmental indicator
Source material
This page is a cited synthesis. Read the cleaned source used for it: