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

Table A3.1: Summary of Variables Used in the Energy Decomposition Method 
Sector (i) Sub-sector 
(j) Activity 
(A) Structure 
(S
j
) Intensity 
(I
j
 = E
j
/A
j
) 
Household 
 
Space Heat 
Population 
Floor area/capita 
Heat
1
/floor area 
 
Water Heat 
" 
Persons/household 
Energy/capita
2 
 
Cooking " Persons/household 
Energy/capita
2
 
Lighting " Floor 
area/capita Electricity/floor 
area 
 
Appliances " Ownership
3
/capita Energy/appliance
3
Passenger Transport 
 
Cars 
Passenger-
km 
Share of total 
passenger-km
Energy/passenger-
km 
 
Bus " 
" 
" 
 
Rail " 
" 
" 
 
Domestic Air 
" 
" 
" 
Freight Transport 
 
Trucks 
Tonne-km 
Share of total tonne-km Energy/tonne-km 
 
Rail " 
" 
" 
 
Domestic Shipping 
" 
" 
" 
Service 
 
Total Services 
Services 
GDP 
(Not defined) 
Energy/GDP 
Manufacturing 
 
Paper and Pulp 
Value added 
Share of total value 
added 
Energy/value added 
 
Chemicals " " 
" 
 
Non-Metallic 
Minerals 
" " 
" 
 
Iron and Steel 
" 
" 
" 
 
Non-Ferrous Metals 
" 
" 
" 
 
Food and Beverages 
" 
" 
" 
Other Industry 
 
Agriculture and 
Fishing 
Value added 
Share of total value 
added 
Energy/value added 
 
Mining " 
" 
" 
 
Construction " 
" 
" 
1
Adjusted for climate variations and for changes in the share of dwellings with central heating systems.
2
Adjusted for dwelling occupancy (number of persons per household). 
3 
Includes ownership and electricity use for six major appliances. 

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157 
Figure A3.1. Disaggregation into Sectors, Sub-sectors and End Uses 
Key Terms 
Useful Energy: Delivered energy minus losses estimated for boilers, furnaces, 
water heaters and other equipment in buildings; used for estimates of heat provided 
in space and water heating. 
Activity or Output: Basic unit of accounting for which energy is used; for 
example, in space heating, it is the area heated; in manufacturing, it is the 
production measured as value-added in real terms as in the output in tonnes of steel 
or number of widgets. 
Energy Intensity: Energy ‘consumed’ per unit of activity or output. 
Structure: Refers to the activity mix; for example, modal mix (trucks, rail, ships) in 
travel, energy end uses in households and the shares of each sub-sector in total 
manufacturing value added. 
Energy Services: Implies actual services for which energy is used: heating a given 
amount of space to a standard temperature for a period of time, etc. Here, a measure 
of energy service demand in a sector is obtained from combined activity and 
structure measures.