Energy
Statistics Newsletter
United
Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs- Statistics Division- Energy
Section
Issue
Number 2, March 2006
Dear
Readers,
Welcome
to the second issue of the United Nations Energy Statistics Newsletter that aims
to update you on activities and developments of the United Nations Energy
Statistics Section, part of the United Nations Environment and Energy Statistics
Branch, United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). The newsletter covers recent
meetings, publications, technical cooperation activities, as well as short
reviews on topical issues. Furthermore, the Market Brief will give you an
overview and brief insight of trends of specific markets. We hope that you find
the newsletter useful and thank you for your support.
Please
be sure to register as a subscriber and to submit any comments or suggestions
to
energy_stat@un.org.
In
this Issue:
Features:
§
Energy
Statistics in the 2006 United Nations Statistical Commission
§
First
meeting of the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics, 6-8 February 2006,
§
The
Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI)
§
Collection
and compilation of Energy Statistics for the year 2004
§
International
Energy Statistics (InterEnerStat) Meeting
§
Why
an Intersecretariat Working Group on Energy Statistics?
§
14th
session of the UN Commission of Sustainable Development
(CSD)
Special
feature:
§
Internship
§
Developments
in Renewable Energy: Energy Statistics new focus area
Publications
Market
Brief: Renewable
Energy Analysis, 1995-2004
Editorial
notes
Energy
Statistics at the 37th session of the Statistical Commission
(SC)
“Report
of Statistics
The energy
statistics programme review was presented and discussed at the 36th
session of the SC in 2005 and this year energy was again on the agenda of this
high level forum of statisticians from around the world. A discussion paper was presented by
Statistics Norway on the quality of the oil statistics, followed by many
interventions from countries outlining the importance of energy statistics and
their development.
The paper
presents
key characteristics of oil statistics and point out crucial methodological
challenges. The focus is on national oil statistics, from production of primary
resources to imports/exports, stocks and use. Because of the scale of the oil
market, relatively small errors in data and conversion factors can cause
important errors in the statistics. Some errors are inevitable, but good
practices can minimize the risk. The paper emphasizes the importance of
high-quality national data as the building blocks of an international system for
oil statistics.
The report can be
divided into four parts which can be summarized as
follows:
[1] The current situation and the need for
high-quality oil statistics: Because oil is so influential in both global
and national economies, it is crucial that planners and analysts have reliable
information on oil production, trade and stock to help understand markets and
project oil prices. To achieve this, every country should have internally
consistent national oil statistics, which form the basis for international
reporting. The report recommends that countries apply internationally accepted
concepts, standards, and methods for the production of national oil
statistics.
[2] Description and discussion of national and
international use of oil statistics: National
systems for oil statistics require internal consistency between different
divisions of a statistical office, and between the statistical office and the
industrial and organizational bodies that provide data. Good national
statistical systems will ensure a consistent national energy balance, with small
statistical differences, and create positive synergies for international oil
statistics. The main problems
arising at international level are: a) delays in receiving data; b) lack of
accuracy and frequent revisions to national figures; c) differences in national
definitions and measurement units, and d) the application of different methods
for international aggregation.
The report
expresses the need for and/or strengthening of a centralized administration for
national oil statistics based on a population of economic units comprising oil
companies, producing fields, refineries, and consumer
groups.
[3] Detailed discussion of the production
process and quality challenges of oil statistics: The main problems in
national oil statistics are definition and technical problems. The paper looks
at some of the problems related to definitions and methods, standards for
classification of energy products, units of measurement, conversion factors, and
other factors that influence the quality of data.
[4] Discussion of the future development of
national and international oil statistics, with recommendations for further
improvements: The report recommends that countries improve their national
oil statistics, consult with stakeholders, integrate international definitions
into national statistics, revise their reports when common international
standards are agreed upon, document their national production routines for oil
statistics, increase the qualification level of statistical staff, and introduce
new concepts, such as investment in oil and gas exploration, into national
reporting. At international level, the report calls for an analysis of
statistical differences in reporting, and continued international cooperation to
refine global data systems and improve quality and
timeliness.
The
full report can be downloaded from http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/sc2006.htm
The
Statistical Commission decided that the following actions are to be taken in the
area of energy statistics:
The
Commission:
(a)
Commended on the progress made in the area of energy
statistics;
(b)
Recognized the significance of energy statistics and recommended its
development as part of official statistics, including the need for greater
transparency in the documentation of methods and routines used in the
compilation of energy statistics. It also emphasized the need for capacity
building and training of statisticians;
(c)
Supported the establishment and mandate of the Oslo Group on Energy
Statistics and the Intersecretariat Working Group on Energy Statistics and
requested proper coordination mechanisms between them;
(d)
Supported the review of the UN manuals on energy statistics and requested that this review is based on all
relevant methodological work in energy statistics;
(e)
Emphasized the urgent need for harmonization of energy definitions and
compilation methodologies and the development of international standards in
energy statistics;
(f)
Supported the establishment of a broadly based review team to analyse
existing methodologies and propose common concepts and definitions. It requested
that UNSD submit the modalities of this review team for the consideration of the
Bureau of the Statistical Commission.
First
meeting of the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics, 6-8 February 2006,
18 countries and 5
international organizations participated at the 1st meeting of the
Oslo Group, established following the recommendation of the Ad-hoc group meeting
on energy statistics (May 2005, New York, hosted by the United Nations
Statistics Division). The role of the group is to discuss methodological issues,
to learn from good practices and to contribute to the methodological development
and harmonization of energy statistics that would lead to an improvement in
energy statistics at international level.
The meeting
comprised the following sessions:
The discussion in
session 10 indicated that there is a need for updated and more user-friendly
energy statistics manuals, and some of the participants offered to contribute to
the revision by writing issue papers referring to the chapters of the existing
manuals. A collection of best practices on the
There is a need to
coordinate the work of the
In order to improve
energy statistics it may be necessary to increase the resources in this field,
and some countries will need to build a legal base for data collection. Key to
this is to have a good communication with policy makers and administrators
within the country, and to increase the status and priority of this important
area within the statistical system.
The 1st
meeting of the Oslo Group concluded with the following
recommendation:
The
·
Review of the
definitions and proposals for common definitions for energy products, with
special focus on the new and renewable energy types
·
Proposals and issue
papers for updating the UN manual, Energy statistics: Definitions, unit of
measure and conversion factors (1986)
·
The collection of
country practices and their use for the elaboration of the
definitions/manual
·
The collection of
best practices for energy statistics, and energy balance
compilation.
The group will work
through electronic discussion forums, in addition to traditional meetings, where
the drafts and all the correspondence are to be available for the participants
of the discussion forum.
The next meeting in
the
Further information
can be obtained at the following web-site: http://www.ssb.no/english/conference/ocg/
The
Joint Oil Data Initiative (JODI) World Database is available on the
web
On November
19th 2006, in conjunction with the inauguration of the International
Energy Forum Secretariat (IEFS) premises in
Significant
progress has been achieved by the six organizations (APEC, Eurostat, IEA/OECD,
OLADE, OPEC and UNSD) working together on the development of this initiative
since its inception; however the database is not perfect. For many countries,
especially for the Top 30 producers and consumers, timeliness, coverage and
reliability are already at reasonable levels. The challenge for the
organizations now is to increase the coverage to other countries, to further
improve the timeliness of data submissions and to continually enhance the
quality of all the data.
Collection
and compilation of Energy statistics – 2004
P The 2004 UN Energy Statistics Questionnaire for data collection is now available in Chinese, in addition to our previous English, French and Spanish versions! Soon it will also be available in Arabic. Please visit http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/quest.htm
The
2004 energy data collection is under way. Although the deadline for returning
the questionnaire is past, some countries have still to send their completed
questionnaires to the UN Statistics Division. The Energy Statistics
questionnaire, covering crude oil, electricity and the main fuels, was sent in
November 2005 to more than 150 countries and territories. We will receive
additional data from OLADE, concerning Latin American countries, and from IEA,
regarding OECD and CIS countries
Despite
the improvement in response rates observed in the last years, increased effort
and capacity building is still needed, particularly in
UNSD
thanks all responding countries for their cooperation in completing the
questionnaire and returning it by the deadline. Meanwhile we would like to
invite those countries which have not yet sent back the 2004 questionnaire to
complete and return it as soon as possible. It is important for us to have the
most reliable energy data from the country itself. Please check your
mailbox!
The
energy team is now working on the validation and compilation of energy data and
might contact your office to clarify the data submitted.
The 2004 Energy Statistics Questionnaire
for data collection is available online at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/quest.htm
, but National
statistical offices, ministries of energy or other national authorities
responsible for energy statistics can request a pre-filled questionnaire
containing data for their countries covering the last 5 years by e-mail by
contacting mailto:energy_stat@un.org
International
Energy Statistics (InterEnerStat) Meeting, Paris, 22- 23 November
2005
Twenty-four major
regional and international organisations, either collecting or using energy
statistics participated at the InterEnerStat meeting that was hosted by the
International Energy Agency.
The organisations
shared their experiences and challenges encountered in the development and
maintenance of strong and reliable energy statistics and underlined low
awareness and commitment to the statistical function at the political level,
insufficient resources and expertise as well as the need for more harmonisation
and co-operation. The requirement for more detailed energy statistics is coupled
with a push for increased timeliness and reliability of these energy statistics.
As a response to a call from the 2005 United Nations Statistical Commission, two
new working groups – the Oslo Group and the Inter-secretariat Working Group on
Energy Statistics – will explore ways and means of further improving energy
statistics, respectively at country and international levels.
Further information
can be found at the following web-site:
http://www.iea.org/Textbase/work/workshopdetail.asp?WS_ID=230
Why
an Intersecretariat Working Group on Energy
Statistics?
The United Nations
Statistics Division (UNSD) has been active for more than 50 years in developing
energy statistics, methodology and guidelines, and providing regional training
to developing countries. It has also been responsible for collecting and
disseminating energy data for all countries, territories and regions of the
world. The current publication, the 2003 Energy Statistics Yearbook is the
forty-fifth in a series of annual compilations, and the UNSD database currently
contains detailed energy statistics for more than 200 countries since 1950.
In the early
1950’s, coal was the major energy carrier worldwide; other energy sources,
particularly oil, gradually gained in significance from the late sixties
onwards. In
In the 1970’s
several oil crises wakened the developed world to its increasing dependence on
oil. At that time, several agencies that engaged in collecting and disseminating
energy information on a regional level were created, including the Latin
American Energy Organization (OLADE) [1973] and the International Energy Agency
(IEA) [1974]. Energy returned to the headlines in the 1990s, this time linked to
development, environment and supply concerns, and a number of other related
agencies were created, including the Asia Pacific Research Center (APERC)
[1996], the African Energy Commission (AFREC) [2001].
Also, energy
technologies are changing constantly, requiring the development of new
methodologies and approaches, particularly for production of renewable forms of
energy. Meanwhile data collection is becoming more complex, as markets are
liberalized, more and diversified energy suppliers appear on the market, and
more regional cooperation and intensified trade of energy products can be
observed.
The appearance of
regional and international organizations and new challenges resulted in
accelerated development of methodology, and production of more energy data.
Private companies also started to produce energy data at regional and
international level. With thirty years of hindsight, one can see that this has
lead to duplication, separate development of concepts and methods, and
consequently, a lack of harmonization in some areas.
The organizations
need to tackle these issues if they are to meet the increasing needs of their
users, at a time when, worldwide, resources devoted to statistics are either
stagnant or decreasing,
What are these
increasing needs? Today, quality requirements for energy
statistics have become exceptionally high, because of the unique economic,
environmental, social and political significance of energy.
In order to
formulate energy policies that maintain economic and social stability, prevent
environmental degradation and promote sustainable development, policy makers in
all countries, developing as well as developed, need to have a clear overview of
their energy situation. This requires timely, detailed and reliable data on the
different parts of the production and consumption chain as well as proper
reporting mechanisms, sound checking procedures and adequate resources; in other
words, mature and sustained energy statistics.
There is an
increasing demand for data on many aspects of energy, produced according to
common, accepted definitions and methodologies: a wide base of robust and
consistent time series from which useful indicators can be drawn. Furthermore,
the intricate link between energy, society, economy and environment means there
is an increasing need to improve the integration of energy statistics with
economic, social and environment statistics. Economic statistics of the energy
sector; statistics on energy services; measuring the contribution of the energy
sector to the national economy, the environmental implications of the
production, transformation, transport and use of energy; energy and poverty;
access to electricity; energy efficiency – these are only a few examples of the
emerging questions that a comprehensive, integrated energy statistics system has
to answer.
The indicators
themselves can change depending on the message to be drawn, but statisticians
must ensure the timeliness, accuracy, comparability, completeness/coverage and
availability of the underlying data.
Developing
countries suffered badly in
the recession that followed the oil crises, and were ill-prepared for the kind
of energy analysis that is commonplace in developed countries today. They were
left behind, and not just in energy statistics. Routine data collection and
dissemination activities remain under-funded. To give an example of what we are
up against, in
However, countries
need to learn to walk before they can run. And we need to remove the hurdles
that get in their way. It is essential to remove duplicate data requests,
improve manuals and handbooks, and simplify and standardize our requests to a
minimum set of data required to meet the most basic energy policy needs. And we
need to help countries build the statistical competences required to carry out
this work. This must be done in such a way that, as countries develop, the
initial work they (and we) have done, forms a corner stone on which to build the
wide and solid base of consistent data that forms the backbone of energy
analysis.
Conclusions:
-
It is essential to
increase awareness of the importance of energy analysis, and its base: energy
data collection and energy balance compilation at country
level.
-
Countries need
guidance from the international organizations working in energy statistics for
compiling their national energy balances. However countries need adequate
resources to compile energy balances and should cooperate with other
stakeholders responsible for energy.
-
It is essential
that capacity building activities are well-coordinated between the different
organizations, to maximize the benefits from the limited resources international
organizations can put into this work.
-
Responding to these
requirements is the new challenge to official energy statisticians, to national
statistical offices, and to international organizations active in collecting and
using energy statistics.
It is to meet these
requirements that the Bureau of the Statistical Commission has created the
Intersecretariat Working Group on Energy Statistics.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Report of the IWG
on National Accounts to the Statistical Commission, March 2005.
The fourteenth
session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14) will take place
in
Regarding Energy for Sustainable Development,
CSD-14 draws a link between energy and poverty, emphasizing that the provision
of modern energy services has profound positive impacts on poverty eradication
and standards of living. CSD’s challenge is to improve access to reliable and
economically viable energy services in the face of energy resource constraints
and energy-related environmental impacts. To do this, the development,
implementation, and transfer of cleaner technologies and alternative energy
sources are necessary. However, high costs of these technologies remain a main
barrier.
CSD promotes Industrial Development, highlighting
industry’s key role for sustainable development as a supplier of goods,
services, and jobs. A goal of CSD-14 is to make sure that all countries, in
particular least developed countries (LDC) and small island developing states
(SIDS) benefit from industrial development. Specifically, CSD promotes
industrial energy efficiency as a means to lower both production costs and
emissions. Main barriers to energy efficiency are inadequate infrastructure and
human capacities, a lack of investments and insufficient technology
transfer.
Regarding Air Pollution/Atmosphere, CSD-14
emphasizes the necessity for integrated pollution mitigation efforts in the
context of social and economic development. Main issues are the improvement of
scientific knowledge, stratospheric ozone depletion, trans-boundary atmospheric
pollution, and emissions related to energy, transport and
industry.
Likewise, regarding
Climate Change, CSD-14 calls for
integrated strategies that take into account social and economic development
needs. CSD highlights potentially adverse effects of climate change on
sustainable development as well as the particular vulnerability of LDC and SIDS.
The main means to mitigate climate change are new energy technologies and the
adoption of more sustainable patterns of consumption and production, as promoted
by the 10-year framework of the Marrakech Process.
CSD was established
in 1992 to ensure an effective follow-up of the 1992 UN Conference on
Environment and Development. CSD has been meeting annually from 1993 on. As the
UN high level forum for sustainable development, CSD is responsible for
reviewing progress in the implementation of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration, and
the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. CSD also has a mandate to promote
sustainable development-related dialogue and partnerships. Currently, CSD goes
through a multi-year working program with clusters of specific thematic and
cross-sector issues.
Further information
can be found at:
CSD website: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/review.htm
CSD-14
documents: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/docs_csd14.htm
Internship
The
UN Energy Statistics Section
receives interns on a two-month
assignment basis, three times a year, within the framework of the UN Internship
Programme. The objective of this programme is threefold:
·
to
provide the opportunity to graduate and post-graduate students from diverse
academic backgrounds to be assigned to United Nations offices where their
educational experience can be enhanced through practical work assignments;
·
to
expose them to the work of the United Nations; and
·
to
provide UN offices with the assistance of highly qualified students specialized
in various professional fields.
The
UN Energy Statistics Section offers interns two months' work experience on
energy topics and issues that are currently considered relevant in the area of
energy statistics. In assigning tasks to interns, their personal interest and
background is taken into account.
The
Energy Statistics Section is looking forward to receive interns who are
interested at working on energy statistics issues in an international
environment.
To
check your eligibility, how to apply, and other information about the UN
internship programme, visit: http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/internsh/intern.htm.
Developments
in Renewable Energy –
Energy
Statistics new focus area
Energy is the basic
element for all of modern human civilization and a prerequisite for securing
economic and social development. Along with national economic growth and social
evolution, global energy consumption will continue to grow. Energy resource and
environment issues are becoming the key issues faced by the international
community. Providing affordable, reliable and secure energy is essential to
ending extreme poverty and building a better and cleaner world. However, a
reliable and affordable energy supply faces many challenges and is far from the
norm in the developing world, where more than two billion people do not have
access to modern energy services and 2.4 billion people rely on traditional
biomass for their basic energy needs.
The recent
significant increase in oil prices on the world energy market has shown the
increased economic risk of relying primarily on imported energy by many
countries. By developing local sources of new and renewable sources of energy
such as hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and modern biomass including liquid
biofuels, countries can create diversified energy portfolios that are less
vulnerable to large price fluctuations.
Meanwhile, large
scale consumption of fossil fuels has caused a series of pollution problems,
some of which have become prominent global environmental problems,
threatening the development of human society. Deployment of renewable sources of
energy can provide an environmental friendly solution by reducing net greenhouse
gas emissions and waste, as well as minimizing the pollution of air, water and
soils that results from the production, transport and processing of fossil
fuels. Moreover, as many renewable sources of energy are local and linked to
rural areas, exploiting such sources can provide jobs in otherwise poor areas.
UNSD
Energy Statistics prepared a draft document ‘Comparisons of Renewable Energy Definitions
in the Questionnaires of Different Organisations’ which presents an overview
of the definitions of renewable energy sources and products, and attempts to
define the products in international classifications. The definitions used by
international organizations for new and renewable products do not seem to go far
enough to cover all the major products and especially the new products with
strong potential, in line with the progress of technology, policy support and
market investment. Many renewable products are not specified in the
classifications, or are classified with different breakdowns, which increases
the inconsistency in data collected for international comparison.
It
is difficult to collect and monitor data on renewable energy statistics,
especially for the traditional renewable energy sources such as wood and other
biomass, which are mostly utilized in less developed remote areas, where
statistical data are very limited and less reliable. These energy products are
mainly not commercialized and only collected and consumed locally, so they are
not generally adequately covered in national or regional energy statistics.
Recommendations
to improve renewable energy statistics are:
·
Harmonize
and standardize definitions and classification in close cooperation between the
different international organizations and national statistical
offices;
·
Analyze
the resource potential/ development status/ main products/ policy/ scenario of
renewable energy in countries;
·
Periodically
review and update the information and questionnaires used by international
organizations, because of the fast development of renewable energy technologies
and diversified energy sources/ products;
·
Develop
and refine estimation methodology for traditional forms of renewable
energy.
Publications
The
2003
Energy Statistics Yearbook
is
now available in pdf format on our website: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy
The
Energy
Statistics Yearbook
provides
internationally comparable series of commercial energy statistics summarizing
world level and regional energy trends. Annual data for 215 countries and areas
for the period 2000 to 2003 are presented on production, trade and consumption
of energy: solids, liquids, gaseous, traditional fuels and electricity in a
series of 38 comprehensive tables. In addition, per capita consumption series
are also provided for all energy products. This year we have introduced
bookmarks in the electronic version to facilitate navigation through such a huge
publication.
To
find out more about the recent yearbooks, please visit our websites: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/yearbook/EYB_pdf.htm and http://unstats.un.org/unsd/energy/balance/EBEP_pdf.htm
ÊThe
following methodological publications from the UN Statistics Division on energy
statistics are available in electronic format at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/pubs/gesgrid.asp?mysearch=energy&sort=title
Energy
Statistics: Definitions, Units of Measure and Conversion
Factors
Series: F, No.44
Sales
number: 86.XVII.21
Available
in English, French, Spanish and Russian