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Understand the three different scales for measuring primary energy and avoid errors

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  • Lightfoot, H. Douglas

Abstract

Three quite different scales for measuring the amount of primary energy the world uses annually are currently in use. The Engineering Information Administration, the International Energy Agency and the Working Group III (WG III) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), each has its own scale for measuring and recording primary energy. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between these scales so the reader can avoid introducing errors into work involving primary energy. An example is presented to show how mixing of these scales, and not identifying them, constitutes an error in 16 of the 40 energy scenarios in the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios prepared by WG III of the IPCC. These three scales arise mainly because of legitimate differences of opinion about how to measure and record primary energy, and especially for generating electricity from nuclear and renewable energies. All three scales use “Joules” as the unit of energy measurement, but these “Joules” are arbitrary units and are not the precise Joule as defined and used in physics and chemistry.

Suggested Citation

  • Lightfoot, H. Douglas, 2007. "Understand the three different scales for measuring primary energy and avoid errors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1478-1483.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:32:y:2007:i:8:p:1478-1483
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2006.10.009
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    Cited by:

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    2. Beaudreau, Bernard C. & Lightfoot, H. Douglas, 2015. "The physical limits to economic growth by R&D funded innovation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 45-52.
    3. Zeus Guevara & Oscar Córdoba & Edith X. M. García & Rafael Bouchain, 2017. "The Status and Evolution of Energy Supply and Use in Mexico Prior to the 2014 Energy Reform: An Input-Output Approach †," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Kraan, Oscar & Chappin, Emile & Kramer, Gert Jan & Nikolic, Igor, 2019. "The influence of the energy transition on the significance of key energy metrics," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 215-223.
    5. Graham Palmer, 2018. "A Biophysical Perspective of IPCC Integrated Energy Modelling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, April.
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    7. Sousa, Tânia & Brockway, Paul E. & Cullen, Jonathan M. & Henriques, Sofia Teives & Miller, Jack & Serrenho, André Cabrera & Domingos, Tiago, 2017. "The Need for Robust, Consistent Methods in Societal Exergy Accounting," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 11-21.
    8. Volker Krey, 2014. "Global energy-climate scenarios and models: a review," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(4), pages 363-383, July.
    9. Palmer, Graham, 2017. "An input-output based net-energy assessment of an electricity supply industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1504-1516.
    10. Heun, Matthew Kuperus & Owen, Anne & Brockway, Paul E., 2018. "A physical supply-use table framework for energy analysis on the energy conversion chain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 1134-1162.
    11. Cullen, Jonathan M. & Allwood, Julian M., 2010. "The efficient use of energy: Tracing the global flow of energy from fuel to service," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 75-81, January.
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    13. Luderer, Gunnar & Pietzcker, Robert C. & Kriegler, Elmar & Haller, Markus & Bauer, Nico, 2012. "Asia's role in mitigating climate change: A technology and sector specific analysis with ReMIND-R," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S3), pages 378-390.

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    Keywords

    Primary; Energy; Joule; EIA; IEA;
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