Discovery of a possible Well-being Turning Point within energy footprint accounts which may support the degrowth theory

Abstract

The former consensus on a link between energy consumption and improved well-being of a country has been scrutinized by scholars for decades and is, succinctly, for the time being a contested thesis. Until the 1970s the relation of energy to well-being was defined as linearly proportional, and in a later period still as an increasing logarithmic function. Recent empirical research falsified the assumption of an overt link between well-being and increased energy consumption in countries with high per-capita energy usage.Going forward, our research shows for the first time a possible proof for a negative correlation between energy consumption and well-being after a Well-being Turning Point (WTP). We used a world data set, not limited to high-income countries but including 176 nations with available data sets. Our findings could support both the logarithmic growth of well-being together with energy, as well as the contradicting saturation theses supporting degrowth, and thus opens the discussion in all directions. In this paper Energy Footprint data within Eora database and Global Multi Regional Input Output methodology have been calculated, which includes also the energy embodied in imported/exported products and services (also known as consumption-based energy accounts). The use of footprint accounts has been demonstrated in our previous research to be necessary when analysing global energy consumption trends; as it records the energy consumption reality better than the usually used Total Primary Energy Supply which is provided by the International Energy Agency. In this paper, we provide in a novel way, some statistical support for an Energy WTP, i.e. a high-energy threshold after which a further consumption increase results in a reduced Human Development Index. We tested our results for possible biases (e.g. excluding outlier countries and including a factor for considering the weight of high population countries) and concluded that a WTP is one possible interpretation of the data. Thus, we would like to open a discussion about how energy consumption could end up having a negative effect on well-being, considering its indirect impacts in citizens of a country.