Indicators of energy use and carbon emissions: Explaining the energy economy link

This article reviews energy indicators, which are developed to describe the links between energy use and human activity in a disaggregated manner. Aft er briefly reviewing a number of early and current efforts to develop indic ators, we discuss the basic concepts of various indicators and the methodol ogies used to derive them. We also review the use of decomposition methods to aid in the analysis of trends in energy use and comparisons of uses betw een countries. Findings from our comparative and time-series analyses of se veral industrialized countries illustrate the application of these methods. Using simplified methods for estimating the carbon released in direct comb ustion of fossil fuels, and in electricity and heat production, energy indi cators can be extended to carbon emissions. These carbon indicators can pla y an important role in aiding negotiations over carbon reduction targets an d evaluating progress toward meeting abatement goals.