Structural Change and U.S. Energy Use: Recent Patterns

Abstract

The role of structural change in energy use patterns is evaluated using a recently developed data set based upon the NAICS codes for the United States. Shifts between 65 industries in the commercial, industrial and transportation sectors account for almost 40 percent of the reduction in the US economy's aggregate energy intensity over the 1997-2006 period. Excluding the transportation industries, these shifts account for 54 percent of the total effect. These estimates are more than twice the magnitude of those due to shifts between five major sectors of the economy. Since all these estimates use the preferred Fisher index, the results are more likely due to the most recently available data than to methodological issues like the decomposition approach.

Activity Sectors and Energy Intensity: Decomposition Analysis and Policy Implications for European Countries (1991–2005)

“…For example, [21] uses the GVA of the transport sector to decompose EI for Spain and the entire EU region, but this is a bad proxy of its level of activity ( [20] already warmed about this). This inconsistently in sector definitions may cause large errors despite the use of the most precise index-number procedure [24], which may lead to misleading conclusions. Table 1 summarizes GVA and energy data (in relative terms) for the 14 EU countries considered in the paper.…”

Dynamics and determinants of energy intensity in the service sector: A cross-country analysis, 1980–2005

“…It can be seen that across the 18 OECD countries in our sample, in 2005 the service sector is responsible for about two-third of total value added and one-fifth of total energy consumption. Interestingly, Table 1 shows that the value added share has increased at a fairly 2 Recent exceptions include Florax et al (2011), Huntington (2010), and Mairet and Decellas (2009). modest speed over time, whereas the energy share has increased considerably -even up to 25% in main Western European countries (EU6) and Japan. 3 Source: See Mulder and De Groot (2012) and Section 2 for details on the dataset.…”

“…Together, in 2005 these 18 countries are responsible for nearly 65% of world GDP and world energy consumption in the service sector. Typically, cross-country studies come at the price of limited sectoral detail, which may mask substantial heterogeneity in output and productivity growth within the aggregate sector (see, for example, Huntington 2010, Jorgenson 1984, Mulder and De Groot 2007. In contrast, using a new database, we combine our cross-country perspective with a high level of sector detail, distinguishing 23 subsectors in services.…”

Dutch sectoral energy intensity developments in international perspective, 1987–2005

“…Because of limited data availability, existing cross-country energy studies typically come at the price of limited sectoral detail. This is a serious drawback, because aggregate trends of energy intensity mask considerable differences across industries and a limited degree of sectoral disaggregation may lead to biased results as it may obscure shifts from energy intensive to energy extensive subsectors (see, for example, Florax et al 2011, Huntington 2010, Mulder 2005. Moreover, although service sectors and energy-extensive industries are responsible for a considerable and increasing share of energy use in developed countries, most energy studies continue to focus on the Manufacturing sector with an emphasis on heavy industries (see, for example, Eichhammer and Mansbart 1997, Fisher-Vanden et al 2004, Howarth et al 1991, Lescaroux 2008, Unander et al 1999, Unander 2007 The structure of the paper is as follows.…”