Energy consumption in service industries: Challenging the myth of non-materiality

Charlotte Fourcroy, Faïz Gallouj and Fabrice Decellas
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Charlotte Fourcroy: CLERSÉ - Centre Lillois d’Études et de Recherches Sociologiques et Économiques - UMR 8019 - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Fabrice Decellas: EDF R&D - EDF R&D - EDF - EDF

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Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of energy consumption in service industries. Official energy statistics show that the amount of energy consumed in service industries is quite small, and this is explained in the theoretical literature by the presumed intangibility of these services. Our hypothesis, however, is that the energy consumed by services has been underestimated. After identifying and analyzing the full range of sources of energy consumption in service industries, we show that official energy statistics account for only a part of this consumption. Our work is based on a thorough rereading of the economics literature on services (especially concerning the definition of services and the specifics of the service provision process), done in light of our knowledge about energy consumption.

Keywords: Service industries; Energy consumption; Materiality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-06-14
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01111724
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Published in 9th International Conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics. Advancing Ecological Economics, European Society for Ecological Economics, Jun 2011, Istanbul, Turkey. ⟨10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.07.003⟩

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Journal Article: Energy consumption in service industries: Challenging the myth of non-materiality (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01111724

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2012.07.003

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