Abstract
Previous research suggests that there is an inverted U-shape curve for energy intensity in the long-run for Western Europe with a peak in the early 20th century. This paper tests the hypothesis that the increase of German and British energy intensity was an effect from the concentration of heavy industrial production to these countries, although the consumption of a significant share of these goods took place elsewhere. We use an entirely new database that we have constructed (TEG: Trade, Energy, Growth) to test whether these countries exported more energy-demanding goods than they imported, thus providing other countries with means to industrialize and to consume cheap-energy demanding goods.We find that the U-shape curve is greatly diminished but does not disappear. The pronounced inverted U-curve in German energy intensity without trade adjustments is reduced when we account for energy embodied in the traded commodities. For Britain the shape of the curve is also flattened during the second half of the 19th century, before falling from WWI onwards. These consumption-based accounts are strongly influenced by the trade in metal goods and fuels, facilitating industrialization elsewhere.
Highlights
Today, China is often perceived as the workshop of the world, producing large amounts of cheap consumer goods for others
A century ago Britain and Germany played a similar role both for Europe and globally. In these ‘workshops of the world’ energy and other resources are used to produce goods to satisfy foreign demand. This means that national levels of energy consumption may look profoundly different when international trade is taken into account and energy use is attributed to the final consumer, rather than producer of a good: the so-called consumption based approach (Davis and Caldeira, 2010), or ecological footprint approach (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996)
The goods that mattered most for energy embodied in trade differ among our countries and between dates
Summary
China is often perceived as the workshop of the world, producing large amounts of cheap consumer goods for others. A century ago Britain and Germany (along with the United States) played a similar role both for Europe and globally. In these ‘workshops of the world’ energy and other resources are used to produce goods to satisfy foreign demand. This means that national levels of energy consumption may look profoundly different when international trade is taken into account and energy use is attributed to the final consumer, rather than producer of a good: the so-called consumption based approach (Davis and Caldeira, 2010), or ecological footprint approach (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996). Often the consumption-based approach focuses on the patterns and levels of consumption of individuals
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