International comparisons of sectoral carbon dioxide emissions using a cross-country decomposition technique

Discerning which sources contribute most to differences in per capita carbo n emissions and why presents a daunting task for analysts, since several un derlying factors affect emissions from hundreds of end-uses. This paper pro vides derails of an international comparison methodology and carries our th e comparison on a number of international Energy Agency (IEA) member countr ies. These calculations show where differences in the components of emissio ns lead to large gaps among countries. The data, from national sources, are the most extensive and disaggregated ever compiled for this kind of intern ational analysis. Overall, activity differences account for the largest par t of the gap in per capita emissions among IEA countries. If we normalize e missions to GDP, then transport activity levels, energy intensities, and ut ility carbon intensity share about equally in explaining the differences in carbon/GDP ratios among countries. Most of the structural variations arise in the freight, services, and household sectors-sectors less sensitive to international competition than manufacturing.