Use
of mineral oil as a fuel
RD-7
Resource
Depletion
Pressure
1 Indicator
definition and unit of measurement
Total
annual amount of mineral oil which is used as a fuel, expressed in metric
tonnes per year.
2 Placement
in the framework:
5EAP:
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 energy and natural
resources, and for an increased efficiency in the use of these resources (e.g.
Chapter 4: Changing consumption patterns and Chapter 10: 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 Charter Protocol of
Lisbon (1994) deals with energy efficiency and related environmental aspects.
Ranking:
Core
Ranking:
7
(31%)
Policy
Relevance:
1
(3.3)
Analytical
Soundness:
5
(3.0)
Responsiveness:
5
(2.5)
Most
appropriate related state indicator:
The
total available stocks (per capita) of mineral oil.
3 Significance:
Purpose:
The
indicator represents the main pressure on the oil reserves. The direct or
indirect use of oil as a fuel is the main use of this fossil form of energy.
Relevance:
The
indicator represents the most important pressure on the oil resources. Mineral
oil is also used as a raw material for chemical industry, but the use of
mineral oil as a fuel is by far the most important. Mineral oil can be used as
a fuel direct, or indirect. The indirect use concerns the modified fuels which
are produced by refineries. By including both direct and indirect fuels from
mineral oil the indicator covers a broad field of resource depletion.
Linkages
to other pressure indicators:
None.
Targets:
None.
Reference levels for this indicator can be derived from existing policy targets
in the field of energy use.
4 Methodological
description and underlying definitions:
Underlying
definitions and concepts:
The
use of oil as a fuel is a so called “end use”, which means that
after use there are no possibilities for recycling left. Use of oil as raw
material on the other hand leaves the possibility for recycling. The use of
mineral oil as a fuel is a direct measure of the depletion of mineral oil
resources. The indicator includes the oil use of all economic sectors.
Measurement
methods:
The
indicator is measured in metric tonnes. The annual amount of imported oil and
the annual amount of domestically produced oil are added. The annual amount of
exported oil products which are meant to be used as a fuel are expressed in
amounts of raw material and consequently subtracted. The balance gives the
value of the indicator.
Limitations
of the indicator:
The
indicator does not allow for depicting the specific impact of policy on
reduction of the use of specific fuels derived from mineral oil. The indicator
does not have the same scope as the “most appropriate related state
indicator”, which implicates that other uses of mineral oil have to be
taken into account to calculate the tempo of depletion of the resource. The
indicator does not present the total use of mineral oil.
Alternative
definitions:
The
indicator could be restricted to specific fuels from mineral oil. This could on
the one hand augment the relevance for policy development but will on the other
hand lead to less coverage of the policy field.
