Is Embodied Energy a Better Starting Point for Solving Energy Security Issues?—Based on an Overview of Embodied Energy-Related Research

Jinghan Chen, Wen Zhou and Hongtao Yang
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Jinghan Chen: School of Economics and Management, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Wen Zhou: College of System Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073, China
Hongtao Yang: School of Business Administration, Huaqiao University, Quanzhou 362021, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 16, 1-22

Abstract: Embodied energy is termed as the total (direct and indirect) energy required to produce economic or environmental goods and services. It is different from the direct energy measurement of energy consumption. Due to the importance of energy security, it has attracted increasing attention. In order to explore whether and to what extent embodied energy can provide a more innovative approach and competitive perspective to energy security issues, 2608 relevant pieces of literature from the Web of Science core collection are analyzed in this study. Results show that embodied energy has been taken seriously. Moreover, by reviewing the typical literature, this paper first summarizes the embodied energy calculation methods and models, then investigates how embodied energy provides a new perspective to energy issues, and lastly analyzes how to show value in energy security issues in its application of guiding policy-making and energy security studies. In summary, there is no doubt that embodied energy can provide a more integrated perspective on energy consumption and demand and provide a more scientific reference for policy-making to enhance energy security. However, because of data and application scope limitations, establishing a comprehensive energy security research and application system with embodied energy measurements needs hard work.

Keywords: energy security; energy policy; embodied energy; input–output analysis; application (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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