An Integrated Approach for Estimating the Energy Efficiency of Seventeen Countries

Chia-Nan Wang,Hong-Xuyen Ho,Ming-Hsien Hsueh

doi:10.3390/en10101597

Abstract

Increased energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to achieve climate change mitigation. This study aims to evaluate the energy efficiency of seventeen countries. The evaluation is based on an integrated method that combines the super slack-based (super SBM) model and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) to investigate the energy efficiency of seventeen countries during the period of 2010–2015. The results in this study are that the United States, Columbia, Japan, China, and Saudi Arabia perform the best in energy efficiency, whereas Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, and India perform the worst during the entire sample period. The energy efficiency of these countries arrived mainly from technological improvement. The study provides suggestions for the seventeen countries’ government to control the energy consumption and contribute to environmental protection.

Highlights

Energy consumption and greenhouse gases are directly related to global warming and climate change
In order to obtain a strategy of environmental protection and economic growth, many countries’ governments have been implementing a package of policies to improve the energy efficiency
This study proposes an effective approach, which combines the super slacks-based measure (SBM) model and the Malmquist productivity index to estimate the energy efficiency of seventeen countries under consideration with and without undesirable factor during the period of 2010–2015

Summary

Introduction

Energy consumption and greenhouse gases are directly related to global warming and climate change. Due to the world’s considerable economic growth, energy production is considered to have a key role in the economic development of many countries. Energy production growth has led some nations to expend more costs with environmental pollution. Between the 1990s and 2005, the International Energy Agency estimated that global final energy use increased by 23%, while the associated carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions rose by 25% [1]. To slow down energy consumption and to promote low-carbon output development, improving energy efficiency becomes one of the most effective choices. In order to obtain a strategy of environmental protection and economic growth, many countries’ governments have been implementing a package of policies to improve the energy efficiency. The measurement of the energy efficiency with the consideration of environmental factors can help to reduce energy consumption and mitigate environmental pollution [4]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Conclusion