The Economy, Energy and Air Emissions

Publication in .pdf-format (you need Acrobat Reader 3.0):

• Abstract, Contents, Foreword
• Introduction, Chapters 2-6 and Annexes 1-5

The publication presents an overview of how the structure of the economy correlates with the consumption of energy and emission of air pollutants. Energy consumption and air emissions are examined both by industry and by commodity. The examination focuses on the amounts of energy consumed and air emissions generated by various industries. So that different industries could be compared with each other, each industry's energy consumption and air emissions are proportioned to the value added that industry produces. The amounts of energy tied up and emissions released throughout the production processes of commodities are also examined. The energy consumption and air emissions relating to the commodities have been rendered comparable with each other by examining them in proportion to the industry's total value of production. A further area of study is the distribution of the commodities' final use between different groups: private consumption, public consumption, capital formation and export.

The research method used was the input-output model of the national economy, which describes how commodities flow between different industries and are divided between the main final product user groups. The model shows what proportion of each industry's production has been tied up in the production process of each final product commodity. The total energy tied up in the final product commodities and the corresponding air emissions can then be established from this. Finally, the study also shows how the energy consumed in the production of the commodities is, in the final analysis, tied up with the structures of their final use. The study has been made in University of Oulu's Thule Institute and it is based on data from 1993. It is a sequel to its predecessor based on data for 1990. Docent Ilmo Mäenpää has conducted the study and written the publication.