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Primary Energy Supply: IEA's Energy Balance Methodology and Calorific Content in Million Toe
Primary energy supply plays a pivotal role in assessing and understanding a country's energy landscape and its dependency on energy resources. This metric is calculated by summing up energy production and energy imports while subtracting energy exports and international bunkers. Additionally, it takes into account stock changes, reflecting fluctuations in energy inventories. To ensure consistency and comparability among different energy sources, the International Energy Agency (IEA) adopts a standardized unit of account called "tonne of oil equivalent" (toe). One toe is defined as 107 kilocalories(41.868 gigajoules of energy content). The concept of gross and net calorific value is essential in calculating primary energy supply for different fuels. The gross calorific value represents the total energy content of the fuel, including the latent heat of vaporization of water produced during combustion. The net calorific value, on the other hand, accounts for the latent heat of vaporization, which is subtracted from the gross calorific value. For coal and oil, the net calorific value is approximately 5% less than the gross, while for most forms of natural and manufactured gas, the difference is around 9-10%. The IEA employs the physical energy content method to calculate energy balances and determine the primary energy equivalent in tonnes of oil equivalent. This approach ensures that the energy content of various fuels is accurately reflected, enabling meaningful comparisons between different energy sources. Furthermore, expressing primary energy supply in toe per 1,000 USD offers insights into the energy intensity of an economy. A lower value suggests that the country is using energy more efficiently to produce its goods and services, indicating a higher level of energy productivity. Conversely, a higher value indicates higher energy consumption relative to economic output, highlighting potential areas for improving energy efficiency and resource management.