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A Structural Decomposition Analysis of Global and National Energy Intensity Trends

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  • Daniel Croner and Ivan Frankovic

Abstract

This paper analyses recent energy intensity trends for 40 major economies using a structural decomposition analysis. Our focus lies on the question whether improvements in energy intensity were caused by structural change towards a greener economy or by technological improvements. We account for intersectoral trade by using the World Input-Output database and adjust sectoral energy use via the environmentally extended input-output analysis. We find strong differences between consumption and production-based energy consumption across sectors, particularly in the construction and electricity industry. Using the three factor Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index method, our decomposition analysis shows that recent energy intensity reductions were mostly driven by technological advances. Structural changes within countries played only a minor role, whereas international trade by itself even increased global energy intensity. Compared to a previous study only using production-based sectoral energy data, we find structural effects on energy intensity reductions to be systematically weaker under consumption-based data.

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  • Daniel Croner and Ivan Frankovic, 2018. "A Structural Decomposition Analysis of Global and National Energy Intensity Trends," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
  • Handle: RePEc:aen:journl:ej39-2-croner
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    Cited by:

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    2. Croner, Daniel & Koller, Wolfgang & Mahlberg, Bernhard, 2018. "Economic drivers of greenhouse gas-emissions in small open economies: A hierarchical structural decomposition analysis," MPRA Paper 85755, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Fernández-Amador, Octavio & Francois, Joseph F. & Oberdabernig, Doris A. & Tomberger, Patrick, 2023. "Energy footprints and the international trade network: A new dataset. Is the European Union doing it better?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    4. Xiuqin Zhang & Xudong Shi & Yasir Khan & Majid Khan & Saba Naz & Taimoor Hassan & Chenchen Wu & Tahir Rahman, 2023. "The Impact of Energy Intensity, Energy Productivity and Natural Resource Rents on Carbon Emissions in Morocco," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-22, April.
    5. Ninpanit, Panittra & Malik, Arunima & Wakiyama, Takako & Geschke, Arne & Lenzen, Manfred, 2019. "Thailand’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions from production-based and consumption-based perspectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    6. Guevara, Zeus & Domingos, Tiago, 2017. "Three-level decoupling of energy use in Portugal 1995–2010," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 134-142.
    7. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W. & Li, Yingzhu, 2019. "Structural path and decomposition analysis of aggregate embodied energy and emission intensities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 345-360.
    8. Lin, Boqiang & Wang, Miao, 2021. "What drives energy intensity fall in China? Evidence from a meta-frontier approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    9. Wang, Hui & Li, Rupeng & Zhang, Ning & Zhou, Peng & Wang, Qiang, 2020. "Assessing the role of technology in global manufacturing energy intensity change: A production-theoretical decomposition analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    10. Guevara, Zeus & Henriques, SofiaTeives & Sousa, Tânia, 2021. "Driving factors of differences in primary energy intensities of 14 European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    11. Hannesson, Rögnvaldur, 2018. "CO2 intensity and GDP per capita," Discussion Papers 2018/16, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.

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