TY - JOUR
T1 - Energy efficiency and structural change in the Netherlands, 1980-1995
T2 - Influence of energy efficiency, dematerialization, and economic structure on national energy consumption
AU - Farla, Jacco C.M.
AU - Blok, Kornelis
PY - 2000/1/1
Y1 - 2000/1/1
N2 - International agreement has been reached to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. One important way of decoupling CO2 emissions from economic growth is by introducing technical measures to improve energy efficiency. In this article, we assess the influence of developments in energy efficiency and economic structure on the total primary energy consumption in the Netherlands over the period 1980-1995. We find a distinct decoupling of the economic growth and energy consumption of 1.5% per year in the 15-year analysis period. We measure (technical) changes in energy efficiency by changes in the energy consumption per physical unit of production or activity. The aggregate rate of (technical) energy-efficiency improvement was 1.4% per year over the period 1980-1995. The Use of physical production indicators makes it possible to measure energy-efficiency developments without detailed surveys at a very low level of aggregation. When we look at economic structural changes over this period, we find that (i) no substantial shift took place at the level of the economic sectors that we distinguish; (ii) the most energy intensive subsectors grew much faster than the total economy; and (iii) at the subsector level, on average, a sizable decoupling of physical production and value added occurred. We conclude that structural changes, that is, changes in the composition of the economy, did not lead to a net decrease in the energy intensity of the Netherlands over the period 1980-1995.
AB - International agreement has been reached to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. One important way of decoupling CO2 emissions from economic growth is by introducing technical measures to improve energy efficiency. In this article, we assess the influence of developments in energy efficiency and economic structure on the total primary energy consumption in the Netherlands over the period 1980-1995. We find a distinct decoupling of the economic growth and energy consumption of 1.5% per year in the 15-year analysis period. We measure (technical) changes in energy efficiency by changes in the energy consumption per physical unit of production or activity. The aggregate rate of (technical) energy-efficiency improvement was 1.4% per year over the period 1980-1995. The Use of physical production indicators makes it possible to measure energy-efficiency developments without detailed surveys at a very low level of aggregation. When we look at economic structural changes over this period, we find that (i) no substantial shift took place at the level of the economic sectors that we distinguish; (ii) the most energy intensive subsectors grew much faster than the total economy; and (iii) at the subsector level, on average, a sizable decoupling of physical production and value added occurred. We conclude that structural changes, that is, changes in the composition of the economy, did not lead to a net decrease in the energy intensity of the Netherlands over the period 1980-1995.
KW - Decomposition analysis
KW - Dematerialization
KW - Energy consumption
KW - Energy efficiency
KW - Specific energy consumption (SEC)
KW - Structural change
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033667399&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1162/108819800569203
DO - 10.1162/108819800569203
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0033667399
SN - 1088-1980
VL - 4
SP - 93
EP - 117
JO - Journal of Industrial Ecology
JF - Journal of Industrial Ecology
IS - 1
ER -