Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies International Atomic Energy Agency United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs International Energy Agency Eurostat European Environment Agency

ASSESSMENT OF DATA 
(a) Data Needed to Compile the Indicator: 
• Energy use by main residential end use (heating, cooling, cooking, heating 
water, lighting). 
• Population and/or number of households. 
• Area per household or per capita. 
• Electricity use per major appliance (e.g. refrigerators, freezers, combination 
freezers/refrigerators, clothes washers, clothes dryers, dishwashers, 
televisions). 
(b) National and International Data Availability and Sources: In some countries, 
the lack of separation between the residential/household and the service/commercial 
sectors in energy statistics has been a problem, particularly for liquid and solid fuels. 
In OECD countries, this distinction is now common. In developing countries, data 
often distinguish between residential and commercial consumption of electricity and 
natural gas, but users of liquid and solid fuels are often not accurately identified. 
Many national energy balances thus fail to distinguish between the residential and 
service/commercial sectors. Such problems are indicated when data show electricity 
and natural gas consumption for both the residential and service/commercial sectors, 
while liquid and solid fuel consumption is shown for only one of the two sectors. 
The other major challenge is to estimate the use of all kinds of non-commercial fuels, 
such as CRW (biomass), in developing countries. This is important in almost all 
developing countries, even in urban areas. Because of these two problems, aggregate 
national or international statistics must be used with caution. 
Consistent data separating residential energy use by main end uses are often not 
available, even in OECD countries, and have thus not been compiled by international 

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institutions. However, both the International Energy Agency (IEA) and Eurostat have 
recently started collecting these data, where available, from their respective member 
countries. The World Bank has sponsored many one-time household surveys in 
developing countries, focusing either on rural or urban areas. In addition to survey 
results, data on energy-using equipment are sometimes available from electric and gas 
utilities, as well as from sales statistics from electric and gas appliance manufacturers. 
REFERENCES 
• EEA, 2002. Energy and Environment in the European Union. Environmental 
issue report no. 31. Copenhagen, Denmark: European Environment Agency. 
• IEA, 1997. Indicators of Energy Use and Energy Efficiency. Paris, France: 
International Energy Agency (IEA)/Organisation for Economic Co-operation 
and Development (OECD). 
• IEA, 2004. Oil Crises and Climate Challenges: 30 Years of Energy Use in IEA 
Countries. Paris, France: International Energy Agency. 
• IEA, various editions. Energy Balances of Non-OECD Countries. Paris, 
France: International Energy Agency. 
• IEA, various editions. Energy Balances of OECD Countries. Paris, France: 
International Energy Agency.