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This paper investigates the effectiveness of different energy scenarios for achieving early reductions in global energy-related CO2 emissions on trajectories to zero or near-zero emissions by 2050. To keep global heating below 1.5°C without overshoot by 2050, global CO2 emissions must decline by about half by 2030. To achieve rapid, early emission reductions entails substantially changing recent pre-COVID (2000–2019) observed trends, which comprise increasing total primary energy supply (TPES) and approximately constant fraction of TPES derived from fossil fuels (FF fraction). Scenarios are developed to explore the effects of varying future trends in these variables in the absence of substantial CO2 removal, because relying on the latter is speculative and risky. The principal result is that, to reduce energy-related emissions to at least half the 2019 level by 2030 en route to zero or near-zero CO2 emissions by 2050, either TPES must be reduced to at least half its 2019 value by 2050 or impossibly rapid reductions must be made in the FF fraction of supply, given current technological options. Reduction in energy consumption likely entails economic degrowth in high-income countries, driven by policies that are socioeconomic, cultural and political, in addition to technological. This needs serious consideration and international cooperation. Key policy insights If global energy consumption grows at the pre-COVID rate, technological change alone cannot halve global CO2 emissions by 2030 and hence cannot keep global heating below 1.5°C by 2050. In the absence of substantial CO2 removal, policies are needed to reduce global energy consumption and hence foster degrowth in high-income economies. Policies to drive technological and socioeconomic changes could together cut global energy consumption and thus total primary energy supply and associated emissions by at least 75% by 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to identify factors which determine energy policy in the EU countries in the middle of 1990s. This objective is achieved in three stages. First, the changes in the distribution of RES in 26 EU countries in the period between 1995 and 2014 are investigated. The analysis demonstrates that over the last 20 years the EU countries diversify the RES they use, which results in substantial changes in their distribution. Second, the distribution of energy sources in 1995 is described, as it is assumed that the distribution might be a crucial factor influencing energy policy in each country. Third, several other factors related to energy security, environmental concerns, economy and politics are considered as potential determinants of renewable energy development. Two statistical methods of variable selection, namely, the best subset regression and the LARS method, reveal that the present (in 2014) share of RES in the energy mix significantly depends on the condition of the EU countries in the middle of 1990s. The distribution of energy sources in 1995 is the crucial determinant of renewable energy development. Countries without their own fossil fuel sources are the ones which develop renewable energy to the greatest extent. Other important factors boosting RE development include: GDP per capita, concentration of energy supply (SWI), and the costs of consumption of energy obtained from fossil fuels in relation to GDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is the driving force for growth and per-capita energy consumption is a key parameter for the development of a nation. Carbon dioxide emissions from burning of fossil fuels are the main concerns for global warming. This paper presents a brief review of the available energy sources, CO 2 -emissions and management, and sustainable chemical processing, where energy consumption, CO 2 -emission, as well as economics and environmental impacts are considered. Not all available energy sources have been utilized efficiently, while, the energy source causing the largest emission of CO 2 is being used in the largest amount. The CO 2 management is therefore looking at “curing” the problem rather than “preventing” it. Examples highlighting the synthesis, design and analysis of sustainable chemical processing are presented in the areas of utilization of biomass-based energy-chemicals production, carbon-capture and utilization to produce value added chemicals, and retrofit design of energy intensive chemical processes with significant reduction of energy-consumption are presented. These examples highlight issues of energy-sustainable design, energy-CO 2 neutral design, energy-retrofit design, and energy-process intensification. Finally, some perspectives on the status and future directions of carbon dioxide management are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a strong correlation between net energy yield (NEY) and energy return on investment (EROI). Although a few studies have researched the EROI at the extraction level in China, none have calculated the EROI at the point of use (EROIPOU). EROIPOU includes the entire energy conversion chain from extraction to point of use. To more comprehensively measure changes in the EROIPOU for China's conventional fossil fuels, a "bottom-up" model to calculate EROIPOU was improved by extending the conventional calculation boundary from the wellhead to the point of use. To predict trends in the EROIPOU of fossil fuels in China, a dynamic function of the EROI was then used to projections future EROIPOU in this study. Results of this paper show that the EROIPOU of both coal (range of value: 14:1-9.2:1), oil (range of value: 8:1-3.5:1) and natural gas (range of value: 6.5:1-3.5:1) display downward trends during the next 15 years. Based on the results, the trends in the EROIPOU of China's conventional fossil fuels will rapidly decrease in the future indicating that it is more difficult to obtain NEY from China's conventional fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study quantitatively assesses the life-cycle environmental impacts of 1 mˆ2 of Si and CdTe Photovoltaic module. GaBi LCA software is applied to establish the LCA model and to perform the calculation, and CML 2001 baseline method is chosen to quantify the environmental impacts. The comparative analysis shows that CdTe technology requires less energy and material resources than Si technology resulting in a reduction of all impacts related to polluting emissions and to material resources consumption. Instead, the human, aquatic and terrestrial toxicity environmental impacts are particularly high for the CdTe panels because they are made of toxic materials. The study highlights the importance of the recycling process at the end of life which involves the recovering of raw materials, a decrease of energy demand and a reduction of emissions of materials that would be harmful to the environment if discharged in landfills. The analysis finally shows the sustainability of these photovoltaic systems through the evaluation of EPBT indicator. The energy pay-back time was calculated carrying out a parametric analysis, varying the main variables, and providing a framework as detailed as possible of the results obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polygeneration is an integrated process that produces two or more energy products from one or more primary energy sources (PES). Polygeneration systems have wide applications in utilities, industrial sectors and building sectors. However, there are still very limited applications of the powerful and practical optimization techniques in polygeneration systems of building sectors comparing to their wide applications in industrial sectors. System optimization is one of effective and reasonable tools to exploit the potential of polygeneration systems. Polygeneration offers potential to fulfill the ambitious target of zero energy building (ZEB) because the interdependence of different energy products can be utilized to provide advantage and flexibility to accommodate more renewable energy sources (RES) in the system. Polygeneration based ZEB can be treated as a type of Polygeneration Microgrid (PM) because PM represents a promising solution to supply electricity, heat and cooling efficiently using local energy sources, including RES. The development of PM is closely associated with building applications. Hence, the objective of the present paper is to give a comprehensive review for optimization techniques of polygeneration systems in buildings. The review was conducted based on integrated design, synthesis and operation optimization (IDSOO) for different scales of systems, ranging from the micro-scale for a single house to the large-scale for a residential complex, including PM to identify difference between traditional systems and PM in terms of optimization. The literature was classified according to solution techniques of IDSOO and characteristics of IDSOO in terms of decision variables, objective functions and constraints. The results showed that there is no significant difference between traditional systems and PM in terms of solution techniques while there is subtle difference between traditional systems and PM in terms of objective function and constraints. Optimization of PM has higher requirements for real-time management to integrate more RES. Optimization of micro- and small-scale systems are more complicated than large-scale ones because there are many constraints from technical, legal and policy viewpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand of the oil and gas energy is increasing very drastically. Conventional hydrocarbon reservoirs contain below the sealing cap rock (shale) and easily move towards wellbore are at the depletion stage. Therefore, drilling engineers in collaboration with mud engineers, geologists and geophysicists are looking for innovative materials to drill unconventional hydrocarbons reservoir which are distributed at the basin scale and cannot approach easily. Geo-thermal energy wells and most of unconventional reservoirs are occurred at high pressure high temperature (HPHT) conditions. Conventional micro-macro organic drilling mud additives with heat insulator in nature can minimize efficiency while drilling HPHT wells. Oil-based muds (OBM) are strictly restricted due to high toxic level and poor emulsion stability at HT. However, this review suggests that addition of macro size organic particles and inorganic nanoparticles can enhance rheological performance, reduce filtrate loss volume and improve shale inhibition characteristics of environmental friendly water-based mud (WBM). Despite an impressive amount of experimental work has been done over drilling additives and their effect over rheological and shale inhibition, taking into account their literature review are rare. In addition, there is no review work of the knowledge gained to date. This work will hope fully trigger further development and new research topics in the area of drilling muds system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combined bioheat and biopower (CBHBP) is named to emphasize that a biomass source is used as the feedstock for the production of combined heat and power (CHP). Turkey is a country with rich biomass potential; however, traditional utilization is predominant. The purpose of this paper is to describe the entire value chain of biomass-to-biopower by focusing on the current commercial technologies in the world and to provide an alternative solution for modern utilization of solid biomass sources in Turkey, while being a reference for other countries interested in biopower. The first aim is to explore the major conversion technologies for CBHBP production considering the entire value chain of biomass-to-biopower, with a focus on the most established path applied to solid biomass sources worldwide. The next aim is to examine the status of biomass energy in Turkey, concentrating on current biopower applications. This review shows that combustion coupled with steam turbine technology is the primary approach to produce biopower and/or bioheat from solid biomass sources worldwide. In different countries, CBHBP production through distributed generation (DG) is seen as a viable way of taking advantage of local biomass sources. In Turkey, biopower production through thermochemical conversion technologies that require solid biomass sources is still at an early stage. A challenging increase in biopower development is needed. In conclusion, modern utilization of solid biomass sources through distributed CBHBP production based on combustion and steam turbine technology, in line with worldwide biopower developments, is a solution to utilize the existing potential efficiently that can be implemented in the short term. Distributed CBHBP should be implemented as soon as possible and become widespread in the country, especially in rural areas near forest villages and in agricultural regions where solid biomass sources are locally available and where there is a constant heat/cold and power demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two small-molecule non-fullerene acceptors, TPE-4PDI and SF-4PDI, and one polymer donor PTB7-Th are selected to construct ternary polymer solar cells with electron-cascade energy levels. In this novel combination, TPE-4PDI is employed as the third component to tune the morphology, achieve balanced hole/electron mobilities, enhance the exciton separation and improve the FF and J sc . Hence, the best efficiency of the ternary organic solar cells increase by ∼20% compared with the binary system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China’s energy issues and carbon emissions have become important global concerns. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the fulfillment of China’s commitment to carbon emissions reduction by 2030. We establish the Markov chain model to analyze the transition of primary energy structure and carbon emissions in China by 2030 without artificial intervention and build three multiobjective optimization models to analyze China’s energy structure and emissions reduction targets by 2030 under three scenarios (scenario of energy structure optimization, scenario of energy intensity optimization, and scenario of energy structure-intensity optimization). The findings show that the proportions of coal, oil, natural gas, and nonfossil energy will reach 17.89%, 11.52%, 49.43%, and 21.16%, respectively; the total decreases in CO2 intensity reach 43.11%, 61.78%, and 60.64%, respectively; the CO2 emissions under these three scenarios are 25.092, 16.859, and 17.359 billion tons. In other words, China’s emissions reduction targets cannot be easily achieved. In order to keep pace with China’s overall mitigation agenda, we put forward the policy recommendations. Through these analyses and discussions, we hope to make contributions to policy stimulation in energy, carbon emissions, and ecological protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tritium Plasma Experiment (TPE) is a unique high-flux linear plasma device that can handle beryllium, tritium, and neutron-irradiated plasma facing materials, and is the only existing device dedicated to evaluate in-vessel tritium inventory in the nuclear environment for fusion safety. The electrical upgrade were recently carried out to enhance operational safety and to improve plasma performance. New DC power supplies and a new control center enable remote plasma operations from outside of the contamination area for tritium, minimizing the possible exposure risk with tritium and beryllium and eliminating heat stress issue. In November 2015, the TPE successfully achieved first deuterium plasma via remote operation after a significant three-year upgrade. Simple linear scaling estimate showed that the TPE is expected to achieve Γ i max of >1.0 × 10 23 m −2 s −1 and q heat of >1 MW m −2 with new power supplies. This upgrade not only improves operational safety of the worker, but also enhances plasma performance to better simulate extreme plasma-material conditions expected in ITER, FNSF, and DEMO for improving in-vessel tritium inventory assessment in fusion nuclear environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a regional, empirical analysis of policy portfolios that aim to contribute towards a ‘Green Energy Economy’ (GEE) transformation. Taking green economy policies and related indicators as the analytical framework, the study examines (i) the composition of policy portfolios promoting low-carbon energy technologies, (ii) short-term trends related to the GEE, (iii) long-term empirical observations of GEE-related factors, and (iv) whether, given these results, CO 2 emission reduction targets can be met. The study focuses on the following regions: Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Non-OECD Europe and countries from the Former Soviet Union, Oceania, OECD Europe, and OECD North America. Findings reveal that low-carbon energy technology policies have spread rapidly since the 2000s. Economics incentives are widespread across all regions, highlighting the growing use of market-based policies. The short-term analysis shows that per capita income growth (and to a lesser extent population growth) are the main obstacles to transition towards a GEE transformation. From a longer-term perspective, results are highly consistent and show no, or limited, progress in making the transformation. Relative improvements in efficiency have not offset the negative effects of growing economic activity, suggesting that this factor per se is a roadblock to GEE transformation. From a policy perspective, the analysis strongly suggests that, despite a plethora of policy initiatives aimed at the market uptake of low-carbon energy technologies, the impacts on key areas of a GEE remain insufficient. A far more ambitious and integrated policy approach is needed to transition towards a GEE, particularly if emission reduction targets in line with a 2 °C mitigation scenario are to be met. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has traditionally focused on three interconnected and mutually enforcing pillars: economy, ecology and society. One of today’s major challenges is to tune environmental sustainability with economic growth and welfare by decoupling resources use and environmental degradation from economic growth. This work aims to assess energy-economy-environment interactions, analyzing energy and CO 2 emission intensity. This is done through a comparative examination of their recent trends in the EU-27 countries, from 1999 to 2009, both by assessing resource and impact decoupling, and through the decomposition of the overall rates of change into their main explanatory effects. One of this work’s major contributions is the derivation of policy implications from the assessment of the main driving forces behind energy and CO 2 intensity, with a greater geographical and temporal focus than prior studies. The results show that, overall, the EU-27 economies reduced total energy use by moving into less energy-intensive structures and improving sectoral energy efficiency, in spite of the adverse results of the activity effect. Regarding CO 2 emissions, the EU-27 decreased these by moving to less carbon-intensive structures and by improving the sectoral energy efficiency, the energy-mix and the emission-factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a strong correlation between net energy yield (NEY) and energy return on investment (EROI). Although a few studies have researched the EROI at the extraction level in China, none have calculated the EROI at the point of use (EROIPOU). EROIPOU includes the entire energy conversion chain from extraction to point of use. To more comprehensively measure changes in the EROIPOU for China’s conventional fossil fuels, a “bottom-up” model to calculate EROIPOU was improved by extending the conventional calculation boundary from the wellhead to the point of use. To predict trends in the EROIPOU of fossil fuels in China, a dynamic function of the EROI was then used to projections future EROIPOU in this study. Results of this paper show that the EROIPOU of both coal (range of value: 14:1–9.2:1), oil (range of value: 8:1–3.5:1) and natural gas (range of value: 6.5:1–3.5:1) display downward trends during the next 15 years. Based on the results, the trends in the EROIPOU of China’s conventional fossil fuels will rapidly decrease in the future indicating that it is more difficult to obtain NEY from China’s conventional fossil fuels.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the feasibility of a low-carbon society in Japan through developing an energy flow, carbon flow and cash flow. In addition to total primary energy supply (TPES) and final energy demand, the energy flow contains estimated renewable energy potential, energy services and energy losses. TPES in 2012 is estimated as 18.9 EJ, of which 17.9 EJ (= 17.9 ×1018 J)was supplied by fossil fuels. Total renewable energy potential is estimated as 21.2 EJ which is enough to meet Japan’s TPES. Wind energy has large potential of 18.3 EJ. As for demand sectors, the transportation sector has the largest energy losses, 2.62 EJ, due to low energy efficiency. Total CO2 emission in 2012 was 1,223 Mt-CO2, of which 956 Mt-CO2 was emitted from both coal and petroleum. Coal is mainly supplied to electricity generation sector, and petroleum is supplied to transportation sector. Total payment for energy supply in final demand sector is estimated to be 41.9 trillion JPY. Total CIF price of 20.6 trillion JPY is paid to foreign countries due to imported fossil fuels. This study indicates that introduction of renewable energy and energy supply system transition, in particular of the transportation sector and electricity generation sector, leads to CO2 reduction and revitalizes local economies. Wind energy, which has a great potential, is important to design a low-carbon society.

This review article considers Earth as an energy-storing (photosynthetic) and energy-consuming (metabolic) system. We evaluate whether and how photosynthetic, solar fuel-production systems can be engineered and deployed sufficiently rapidly to supplant enough fossil fuel supply to sustain a complex human economy and natural ecosystems over the long term. Geophysical, ecological, economic, technological and political constraints are quantified. We consider the potential to innovate and scale up promising systems such as microalgal and artificial photosynthetic systems to economic viability within a time frame meaningful for mitigating the effects of climate change and fuel-supply limitations. A future global society powered sustainably by solar fuels is forecast to require increased global photosynthetic productivity, through increased photon-conversion efficiency and production area. Increasing the efficiency of socioeconomic energy utilisation is also important. Meeting these challenges on the required time scale demands historically unprecedented technical progress, highlighting the need for both advanced international policy frameworks and scientific excellence. Based on evidence from a broad range of fields, a multiscale systems optimisation approach is identified as important, to integrate analyses from the scale of the global climate, economy and energy systems, down to the nanoscale of light-harvesting and carbon-fixing machinery that drives photosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goals of the EU2030 energy policy should be achieved cost-effectively by employing the optimal mix of supply and demand side technical measures, including energy efficiency, renewable energy and structural measures. In this paper, the achievement of these goals is modeled by introducing an innovative method of soft-linking of EnergyPLAN with the generic optimization program (GenOpt). This soft-link enables simulation-based optimization, guided with the chosen optimization algorithm, rather than manual adjustments of the decision vectors. In order to obtain EnergyPLAN simulations within the optimization loop of GenOpt, the decision vectors should be chosen and explained in GenOpt for scenarios created in EnergyPLAN. The result of the optimization loop is an optimal national energy master plan (as a case study, energy policy in Serbia was taken), followed with sensitivity analysis of the exogenous assumptions and with focus on the contribution of the smart electricity grid to the achievement of EU2030 goals. It is shown that the increase in the policy-induced total costs of less than 3% is not significant. This general method could be further improved and used worldwide in the optimal planning of sustainable national energy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As energy plays a vital role in the modern lifestyle of any country, understanding how sustainable the energy system of a country remains an important policy issue. This paper reviews the comprehensiveness of existing metrics in tracking and tracing energy sustainability and finds that the existing multi-dimensional indicators do not capture the sustainability dimension adequately. This paper proposes a composite index, SEDI (Sustainable Energy Development Index), to fill the gap. SEDI focuses on establishing the sustainability level of both intra- and inter-generational needs. The paper discusses the methodology, data availability and initial country comparisons. It is found that SEDI has a positive correlation with both the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Energy Development Index (EDI) but provides a better understanding of the different dimensions of energy sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a production and consumption-based empirical macroeconomic-climate assessment of Sweden’s CO 2 emissions. The core methodology is based on three complementary quantitative methods, namely energy-economy-environment indicators, econometric analyses, and a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) sectoral model. Based on the latest available data (1971–2011), indicators show a sharp decarbonisation of Sweden’s energy supply mix pre-1990, and reductions or reversals in energy intensity, CO 2 intensity and energy use post-1990. Reductions in energy intensity are mostly attributed to substantial increases in economic activity rather than reductions in energy use. Econometric results show that variability of CO 2 emissions is best explained by CO 2 intensity than any other tested variable. The MRIO model shows that the Swedish emissions trading balance is negative with both the European Union and the rest of the world (i.e. embodied CO 2 emissions in imports are higher than embodied emissions in exports). Sweden’s low-carbon intensity is a critical and horizontal explanatory factor in our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Assessment method for primary energy savings of CHP plants is presented. [•] Demand-side and plant-side characteristics are analyzed. [•] The impact of fed-in of heat and power is investigated. [•] Operation strategies have crucial impact on primary energy savings. [•] Generation of power and heat should fit exactly to demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) that has the advantages of high performance, high fuel efficiency, low emission, and long operating range is focused on nowadays. A new hybrid power configuration used in HEV is presented with different control strategies and HEV performances when equipping different weight of fuel power and battery one. In order to realize the new hybrid power configuration especially in the refitted HEV, fractional-slot concentrated-winding BLDC with higher rated spinning speed is given and the prototyped one is developed and fabricated which satisfies successfully the requirements of high performance and demission restriction for the refitted HEV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Energy pay-back time (EPBT) has almost universally been adopted as the indicator of choice to express the energy performance of photovoltaics (PV). In this paper, an in-depth review of the methodology and all underlying assumptions and conventions is presented. A prospective analysis of the potential evolution of the EPBT of PV over the next four decades is then performed, assuming optimistic grid penetration figures and taking into account expected technological improvements. Results show that combining the two opposing effects of a reduction in cumulative energy demand for PV manufacturing and an increase in grid efficiency will likely result in severely limited reductions, or even possible increases, in the EPBT of PV. This is entirely due to how EPBT is operationally defined, and it has nothing to do with the actual energy performance of PV in the future. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the utilization of combustible renewables and waste in the world from the first oil-price shock in 1973 to 1999. The main findings are that the utilization of combustible renewables and waste to total primary energy supply (TPES) in some developing countries is still very high, even over 80% in some African countries. Combustible renewables and waste have a broader range of use in developed countries because they are used in different economic sectors. However, their use is limited to less than 3.5% of TPES in 1999. In developing countries, combustible renewables and waste are predominantly restricted to residential use. This study provides figures that suggest that developing technology for using combustible renewables and waste, and transferring existing technology and experiences from developed countries to developing countries, is an issue that should be explored and not shelved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life cycle assessments (LCAs) are time consuming and can be expensive. Sometimes a company simply needs to have a basic estimate of the environmental impacts of the country which they are conducting the operations. If a company plans to move a current established production line or set up a new production line, which countries should be considered for a full LCA? It would be useful to have a coefficient for each country which could scale an established LCA result to estimate each new country's emissions. The following study develops country coefficients which could be used to scale LCA results. After careful study of many environmental parameters, two were selected to develop the country coefficient: total primary energy supply and electricity grid mix. This coefficient was designed for fiber-reinforced composites; and as the sources of natural fiber could be very different; we also included forestry and agriculture in our study. At the end of the study, we performed LCA-based greenhouse gas emission estimates for several countries and compared the results to the estimates using the country coefficients. We were able to reach an impressive result of up to 95% accuracy in comparison to the full LCA In just simple steps. • A conversion Coefficient for greenhouse gas emissions from a country to another. • Comparison of countries for the production of the plastic automotive parts. • Greenhous gas conversion analysis of fiber reinforced composite automotive parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indicators of resource use such as material and energy flow accounts, emission data and the ecological footprint inform societies about their performance by evaluating resource use efficiency and the effectiveness of sustainability policies. The human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) is an indicator of land-use intensity on each nation's territory used in research as well as in environmental reports. 'Embodied HANPP' (eHANPP) measures the HANPP anywhere on earth resulting from a nation's domestic biomass consumption. The objectives of this article are (i) to study the relation between eHANPP and other resource use indicators and (ii) to analyse socioeconomic and natural determinants of global eHANPP patterns in the year 2000. We discuss a statistical analysis of >140 countries aiming to better understand these relationships. We found that indicators of material and energy throughput, fossil-energy related CO 2 emissions as well as the ecological footprint are highly correlated with each other as well as with GDP, while eHANPP is neither correlated with other resource use indicators nor with GDP, despite a strong correlation between final biomass consumption and GDP. This can be explained by improvements in agricultural efficiency associated with GDP growth. Only about half of the variation in eHANPP can be explained by differences in national land-use systems, suggesting a considerable influence of trade on eHANPP patterns. eHANPP related with biomass trade can largely be explained by differences in natural endowment, in particular the availability of productive area. We conclude that eHANPP can deliver important complimentary information to indicators that primarily monitor socioeconomic metabolism.