Energy elasticity is a term used with reference to the

energy intensity Energy intensity is a measure of the energy inefficiency of an economy. It is calculated as units of energy per unit of GDP. * High energy intensities indicate a high price or cost of converting energy into GDP. * Low energy intensity indicat ...

Gross Domestic Product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...

. It is "''the percentage change in energy consumption to achieve one per cent change in national GDP''". This term has been used when describing

sustainable growth Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The d ...

in the developing world, while being aware of the need to maintain the security of energy supply and constrain the emission of additional

greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), met ...

es. Energy elasticity is a top-line measure, as the commercial energy sources used by the country in question are normally further itemised as fossil, renewable, etc. For example,

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

's national Integrated

Energy Policy Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to cont ...

of 2005 noted current elasticity at 0.80, while planning for 7-8% GDP growth. It expected to be able to reduce this to 0.75 from 2011 and to 0.67 from 2021-22. By 2007, India's Ambassador was able to inform the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

that its GDP was growing by 8%, with only 3.7% growth in its total primary energy consumption, suggesting it had effectively de-linked energy consumption from economic growth. China has shown the opposite relationship, as, after 2000, it has consumed proportionately more energy to achieve its high double-digit growth rate. Although there are problems with the quality of the estimates of both GDP and energy consumption, by 2003-4 observers placed Chinese energy elasticity at approximately 1.5.Energy Outlook for China
EIA testimony U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 3 February 2005 For every one percent increase in GDP, energy demand grew by 1.5 percent. Much of this extra demand has been sourced internationally from fossil fuels, such as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

and

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Energy Elasticity Energy economics Economic indicators