Energy Transition and CO ₂ Emissions in Southern Europe: Italy and Spain (1861-2000)

Abstract

This article examines energy consumption, the transition from organic to fossil energy carriers, and the consequent emissions of CO2 over a period of almost 150 years (1861-2000) in Italy and Spain. The author's reconstruction and analysis of CO2 emissions are based on new series of energy consumption including both traditional and modern energy carriers. The article shows that traditional energy carriers should also be taken into account in long run series of pollution intensity of energy use, pollution intensity of the economy, decarbonisation, and other indicators in order to achieve a clearer interpretation of the processes involved. In this work, the authors first present time series of primary energy consumption, final energy consumption, and energy intensities of Italy and Spain for the period 1861-2000. Then several CO2 indicators for both countries are introduced: total emissions, emissions per capita, pollution intensity of energy (decarbonisation) and pollution intensity. The aim is to investigate whether a decoupling of CO2 emissions, economic growth, and per capita energy consumption can be observed historically: if so, what the factors underlying this development are. Last but not least, these findings could be used to draw some conclusions on further potential development paths, and notably as to whether it is possible to consume more energy per capita and produce more output per capita at lower levels of emissions. Finally, the authors employ a Divisia index perfect decomposition analysis to scrutinize differences in totalemissions between the two countries. Decomposition analysis, particularly Divisia index based decomposition, has found application in a wide array of fields: aggregate energy indexes, total energy-related CO2, CO2 per unit of GDP. To reach an in-depth understanding of the forces underlying different trends in CO2 emissions, however, decomposition analysis will have to be at the per capita level.

Are we moving toward an energy-efficient low-carbon economy? An input–output LMDI decomposition of CO$$_{2}$$ emissions for Spain and the EU28

“…Ang et al (2015) review the literature of the spatial decomposition analysis, investigate the methodological issues, and propose a spatial decomposition analysis framework for multi-region comparisons. Some examples applying this type of spatial analysis for the European and Spanish spheres are Sun (2000), who analyzes the CO 2 emission intensity for 15 European countries in 1995, and Bartoletto and del Mar Rubio-Varas (2008), who perform a spatial analysis of the CO 2 emissions for Spain and Italy in years 1861 and 2000, respectively. However, with this third type of studies, changes in regional disparities over time cannot be traced analytically since the spatial analyses conducted are different for different years.…”

Foreign trade and early industrialisation in the Habsburg Monarchy and the United Kingdom — Two extremes in comparison

“…Coal was the most important energy carrier in early industrialisation: the shift from woodfuel to coal marks the first stage of the “energy transition” and represents an important feature of the first stage of the socio–ecological transition ( Gales et al, 2007; Krausmann et al, 2008b; Bartoletto and Rubio, 2008 ). In both the United Kingdom and the Habsburg Empire, coal consumption increased strongly in the 19th century, and so did foreign trade of coal.…”

“…This transition goes along with specific changes in energy use (e.g. Bartoletto and Rubio, 2008; Gales et al, 2007 ) — again, from mostly organic and renewable to more and more non-renewable energy sources, as well as particular changes in land use ( Sieferle et al, 2006; Krausmann, 2001; Kuskova et al, 2008; Erb et al, 2008; Musel, 2009 ). In many empirical studies on this subject, the role of foreign trade in the transition process is addressed to some extent, usually as proposed within the methodological framework of Material and Energy flow Analysis (see e.g.…”

The Drivers of Long-Run CO2 Emissions: A Global Perspective Since 1800

“…They conclude that CO 2 intensity rose until 1917 due to the transition from wood to coal and declined afterwards as a result of technological and behavioral changes. Bartoletto and Rubio (2008) analyze the causes of differences in CO 2 emissions for Italy and Spain from 1861 to 2000 and find that population growth was an important determinant. Gingrich et al (2011) investigate the differences in fossil-fuel-related CO 2 emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia in the period 1920-2000.…”