Patterns of Change in the Use of Energy in the New Zealand Economy

Abstract

The relationships between economic activity and energy use have been a matter of interest, in particular since the disruptions to energy markets in the 1970s. Input — Output models provide a convenient methodology by which to identify energy-use intensities of economic sectors at a disaggregate level. Moreover, if there exist at least two compatible tables displaced temporally, it is possible to identify changes in the energy intensity of economic activity through time. The use of energy in the New Zealand economy is estimated for each of the years 1971/72 and 1981/82 by means of Input — Output tables. Subsequent analysis is directed at identifying the relative contributions of changes in the technological coefficients and changes in the pattern of final demand to overall change in energy intensity over the ten-year period. Results suggest that the energy intensity of economic activity in New Zealand, unlike many other industrialised nations, has increased appreciably during the decade under consideration.