The World Energy Council (WEC) has recently released its 2014 Energy Sustainability Index. The index ranks countries in terms of their likely ability to provide sustainable energy policies through the 3 dimensions of the energy trilemma:
- Energy security: the effective management of primary energy supply from domestic and external sources, the reliability of energy infrastructure, and the ability of participating energy companies to meet current and future demand.
- Energy equity: the accessibility and affordability of energy supply across the population.
- Environmental sustainability: the achievement of supply and demand-side energy efficiencies and the development of energy supply from renewable and other low-carbon sources.
The Index rank measures overall performance and the balance score highlights how well a country manages the trade-offs between the three competing dimensions: energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability. The best score ‘A’ is given for a very high performance. Countries with good results are awarded with the score ‘B’. High performers receive the score ‘AAA’ while countries that do not yet perform well receive a ‘DDD’ score.
For the first time, a watch list has been created for countries that are in the process of transitioning their energy systems, or where recent or unscheduled events that are not yet reflected in the data may lead to a change in Index performance in the near future. Countries on watch include: Germany, Japan, Italy, Mexico, the UAE, and the UK.
Overall, Switzerland heads the list, followed by Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom.
You can go to the WEC website you can click on the name of the country in the ranking to access individual country profiles and gain a better understanding of the aggregate effect of energy policies applied over time in the context of each country.
Why not check out your country!
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 