DECOMPOSITION OF INDUSTRIAL ENERGY-CONSUMPTION - SOME METHODOLOGICAL AND APPLICATION ISSUES

Several methodological and application issues related to the technique of the decomposition of industrial energy consumption are discussed. It is shown that several decomposition methods reported in past studies are special cases of two general parametric methods based on the Divisia index and that the formulation of these methods can be treated in a unified framework. Decomposition, as a result, can be performed in an infinite number of ways for a given set of energy and production data. Five specific methods are considered, their differences are highlighted, and it is explained how to interpret the results obtained from a specific method. The differences between periodwise decomposition and time series decomposition are then discussed. The decomposition results for Singapore and Taiwan are presented throughout to illustrate the issues raised.