Comparison of Energy Consumption and CO₂ Emission among OECD Countries

Abstract

The approaches of OECD countries aiming at low-energy consumption and low-carbon society were compared using time-series index from 1960 to 2003, such as energy efficiency and CO₂ emission per energy consumption. OECD countries were classified per decade by cluster analysis of index as follows: the countries where the consumption of fossil fuel has been decreasing gradually, the countries where the energy efficiency has been improving, the countries where the consumption of fossil fuel has been increasing, the countries where low-carbon society has been maintained, and the countries where a lot of energy consumption and a lot of CO₂ emission have been continued. The use of local energy, the shift to nuclear and renewable energy, and the increase of natural gas use were key factors for the change of energy use and CO₂ emission pattern.