Use
of energy per capita
RD-2
Resource
Depletion
Pressure
1 Indicator
definition and unit of measurement
Total
annual end use of energy in the form of electricity, fuel and heat by all
economic sectors, expressed in Joules per capita per year.
2 Placement
in the framework:
5EAP:
Partly
deals with natural resources in Chapter 5: The themes and targets of the
programme, section 5.3: Protection of nature and biodiversity, table 10.
Agenda
21:
Agenda
21 in many of its chapters calls for policies and actions in various areas,
that take into account the vulnerability and availability of natural resources,
and for an increased efficiency in the use of these resources. Chapter 4:
Changing consumption patterns calls for an improvement of efficiency in the
use of energy sources and for a transition towards the environmentally friendly
use of renewable resources. Chapter 10 calls for an “Integrated approach
to the planning and management of land resources”.
International
conventions and agreements:
Article
130 of the Treaty on the European Union (Maastricht, 1992) calls for prudent
and rational utilisation of natural resources. The Energy Protocol of Lisbon
(1994) calls for energy efficiency. The European Energy Charter (1991) aims to
advance energy efficiency.
Ranking:
Core
Ranking:
2
(49%)
Policy
Relevance:
2
(3.3)
Analytical
Soundness:
6
(3.0)
Responsiveness:
10
(2.4)
Most
appropriate related state indicator:
The
total available stocks (per capita) of primary energy sources, such as oil,
gas, uranium and coal, expressed in Joules, or the number of years that the
stocks of primary energy will last at the current rate of use.
3 Significance:
Purpose:
The
indicator represents the overall pressure on resources for the production of
energy. The use of energy per capita is considered the main pressure on the use
of resources for energy production.
Relevance:
Energy
consumption prerequisites the use of non renewable resources such as coal, oil,
(natural) gas, uranium and of semi renewable resources such as biogas, wood,
waste and of renewable resources such as water, wind and solar energy. Only a
very small percentage of the resources which are presently used, are fully
renewable resources. Therefore an increase in overall energy use will directly
increase the use of non renewable resources. In addition to this the use of
energy also puts a pressure on the use of space.
Linkages
to other pressure indicators:
There
is a linkage with use of space because energy production installations occupy
space, e.g. reservoirs: RD-3 (Increase in territory permanently occupied by
urbanisation; infrastructure; waste-tipping and quarrying). There are linkages
with the more specified indicators depicting the use of several resources for
the production of energy, e.g. RD-7 (Use of mineral oil as a fuel). There are
also linkages with the more specified indicators depicting the production of
electricity from several resources, e.g. RD-5 (Electicity production from
fossil fuels).
Targets:
Reference
levels for this indicator can be derived from sustainability levels or, if not
available, from existing policy targets in the field of energy use and spatial
planning. It should be remarked that for the energy produced from fossil fuels
there is no sustainability level.
4 Methodological
description and underlying definitions:
Underlying
definitions and concepts:
The
use of energy is a measure of the energy intensity of society. The indicator
includes the energy use of all economic sectors expressed as amount per capita
and not the use of energy by the households alone. The quantity of energy used
per capita is directly related to individual and industrial energy consumption
patterns. The indicator only presents the final energy use to avoid double
counting.
Measurement
methods:
The
indicator is measured in units per capita to enable direct comparisons between
countries. The amounts of the use of several carriers of energy such as
electricity, gas, oil and heat, have to be aggregated by economic sector. The
amounts for each economic sector have to be added up and divided by the number
of inhabitants.
Limitations
of the indicator:
The
indicator does not allow for depicting the impact of policy on the switching
from non renewable resources to (semi) renewable resources. At the same time it
must be clear that the choice of resources used is influenced by regulations
and policies, prices, technology and the need for security of supply.
Alternative
definitions:
The
indicator could be restricted to the use of energy from non renewable resources
alone.
