Indicators for sustainable energy development: An initiative by the International Atomic Energy Agency

Abstract

Since 1999, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been leading a multinational, multi‐agency effort to develop a set of energy indicators useful for measuring progress on sustainable development at the national level. This effort has included the identification of major relevant energy indicators, the development of a framework for implementation and the testing of the applicability of this tool in a number of countries. To achieve these goals, the IAEA has worked closely with other international organizations, leaders in energy and environmental statistics and analysis including the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the International Energy Agency (IEA), Eurostat and the European Environment Agency (EEA). Also, the IAEA completed a three‐year coordinated research project for the implementation and testing of the original set of indicators in seven countries — Brazil, Cuba, Lithuania, Mexico, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic and Thailand. This article provides an overview of the IAEA programme on Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development (ISED) and highlights its experiences and accomplishments.

Sustainability of Off-Grid Photovoltaic Systems for Rural Electrification in Developing Countries: A Review

“…In the energy sector, other important indicators for the economic sustainability of electrification solutions are the cost-effectiveness [25,26,46,48] and the reliability of supply (see, e.g., [25][26][27]34,49,50]). Moreover, since energy consumption is correlated with income, efforts on rural electrification are expected to contribute to the income of its users [25,46,[51][52][53]. However, if energy projects aim at a higher productive outcome of rural communities, electrification programs need to be coupled with complementary infrastructure, including training and education [53].…”

Energy efficiency strategies to improve productivity and competitiveness of the EU countries

“…For this purpose, different models [7][8][9] have been studied, using discriminatory indicators to make appropriate comparisons between different countries, such as: Population, GDP (US $), GDP per capita, Contribution of productive sectors to GDP, Contribution of the Industrial Sector to GDP (% of GDP), Freight transport activity, Distance traveled per capita, Household per capita, Gross value added of the manufacturing sector, Total Primary Energy Production/ Gross Inland Consumption (%), Accessible energy (US $ / kWh), Population access to water (%), Level of inequality in wages, Energy intensity of Economy (ktep / US $), Emission intensity (kCO 2 / US $), CO 2 emissions per capita.…”

Are the Rural Electrification Efforts in the Ecuadorian Amazon Sustainable?

“…Failures in rural electrification have often been attributed to the lack of coherence in the legal frame (laws, regulations, and standards) [21][22][23], or the absence of proper standards (e.g., [24,25]). Therefore, strengthened formal institutions are considered to be essential for rural electrification [21][22][23]26,27]. According to Levitsky and Murillo [28], two factors determine the strength of formal institutions: their enforcement and their stability (durability).…”