INDUSTRIAL ENERGY USE IN ONTARIO FROM 1962 TO 1984

Both the magnitude and pattern of energy use in the Ontario industrial sector have changed significantly over the 1962-84 period. In order to gain greater insight, a Divisia index approach was used to disaggregate changes in the aggregate energy intensity of the Ontario industrial sector into structural and intensity components, the first component measuring changes due to shifts in the composition of industrial sector output, the second measuring changes due to energy intensity shifts of individual industries. Of particular interest were changes between the pre-oil-shock period (1962-73) and post-oil-shock period (1973-84), as well as differences in the trends of fossil fuel and electricity use. Structural changes were found to be of little importance in the 1962-73 period, but of substantial importance in the 1973-84 period in reducing the aggregate energy intensity of the Ontario industrial sector. Changes in the intensity of individual industries, on the other hand, were found to be significant in the earlier period but of lesser importance in the later period.