Work Package 1: Theoretical Background
Description
Work Package 1 builds the methodological framework for the ClEP project and consists of two tasks:
Development of consistent energy service based indicators
The IEA and IAEA (2001) system of Sustainable Energy Development (SED) indicators and the ISED-AT framework (Kettner et al. 2015a,b) provide a broad range of indicators for all levels of the energy system. These indicator sets are the starting point for the development of the consistent energy service based indicators that will be developed in the ClEP project: They are the basis for choosing relevant indicators in the demand side sectors buildings, mobility and manufacturing as well as for energy supply that cover the three dimensions of sustainable development. With respect to final energy demand we will focus on indicators that relate to energy services as they determine welfare and economic development. These work steps finally result in a set of consistent indicators that is customised for Austria.
For identifying indicators for sustainable energy demand all levels of the energy system have to be considered, starting from the energy services and going the way back to final energy demand and primary energy supply. Since data on energy services are not readily available proxy indicators will have to be used in order to capture energy service demand. These will include transport performance for mobility as a proxy for the energy service "access to people, goods and services at different distances", the floor area of residential buildings as proxy for "well-tempered living space" or "lighting", population for "information, communication and other services related to consumer electronics" or "cooking" and gross value added as a proxy for energy services in the sectors manufacturing and services. For Austria more detailed information on the use of energy is available in the Useful Energy Balances by Statistics Austria where final energy consumption is available by use category and energy source on the sector level. These data will be used for a more detailed assessment of the manufacturing sector where energy services are classified in three different categories: electrical, mechanical and thermal energy services.
Development of composite indices
In addition a composite index for sustainable energy development will be developed. The procedure for the calculation of this sustainable energy index will follow Davidsdottir et al. (2007), Ibarrarán Viniegra et al. (2009) and Kettner et al. (2015a,b). Our index is based on four sub-indices, one for each area (transport, residential buildings, manufacturing, electricity and heat supply).
The main advantages of calculating the composite index as well as the sub-indices are that they facilitate the monitoring of energy policy over time as interpreting and comparing many different indicators proves difficult when an overall conclusion about energy sustainability is aspired. The purpose of the composite index is to reduce the complexity, and to provide a useful instrument for policy monitoring and decision making. In addition, the index can serve as a communication tool. Through aggregating single indicators to composite indices information about specific details (e.g. sectoral developments), however, can be lost. We therefore also provide the single indicators that contain important information about energy sustainability in different areas.
