Energy without Constraints?

Abstract

Understanding energy use is crucial if society is to make a transformation to more sustainable production and consumption patterns, since energy use patterns are key factors in climate change, (air) pollution, and the depletion of nonrenewable resources. Measuring the sustainability of energy use has many aspects that are closely interrelated (e.g., production, conversion, supply, price, efficiency), and their relationships change over time, moving and removing the boundaries of the energy system and its sustainability. This chapter focuses on two boundaries and the implications these have for measuring sustainability: the supply side, which results from changing sources and reserves, and the demand side, due to changes in use and the impact on supply side development. The economy is a basket of activities or, better, energy services. An energy service is the service provided by the energy-using device. Ultimately, the economy is not interested in using energy, but rather in the provision of energy services, and this at the lowest cost to society. Changes in the demand of energy services have altered the way society supplies energy, and will do so in the future, making a sustainable provision of energy services key to a future sustainable energy system. While energy demand is a key issue to determine sustainability of the energy system, reliable data is still lacking with which to measure the sustainability of demand. Understanding of (future) energy demand and end-use technology is thus still limited.