Economic and Social Aspects of Energy Consumption

Usually, the gross national product (GNP) [or the gross domestic product (GDP), see footnote 2 of Table 5.1.4] is used as a measure of a country s economic performance. For a comparison of countries, the purchasing power parity (PPP) should be used, that is, the GNP in international dollars with the same purchasing power as a US in the United States. Values of selected countries are given in Table 5.1.4. The table also lists the land area per head, the population in 2009 (and prediction for 2050), and the energy consumption (pc). 

Other social aspects such as food, meat, fish and paper consumption, the share of Internet users in the population, life expectancy at birth, use of private cars per 100 people, and the annual consumption of motor gasoline and diesel oil are listed in Table 5.1.5 as these aspects are also linked to the energy demand and the standard of living. 

Rank by population in 2009 Country Population 2009 in million 2050 Annual energy consumption in toe pc Annual CNPPPP in international per capita (pc) Share of population living in poverty (%) Land area in soccer fields pc (2009) 

Country Annual energy consumption (2007) (toe pc) Daily food consumption (2005) (kcal pc) Annual paper consumption (2005) (kg pc) Level of science technology (2003) Share of Internet users (2008) (%) Life expectancy (2010) in years Road traffic (2005) Number of Annual fuel cars (per consumption 100 people) (liters pc)  

The GNP per capita (pc) is an important indicator for measuring the average welfare of the population in a country or region. Countries with a higher GDP pc may be more likely to also score highly on other measures of welfare, such as life expectancy. However, there are serious limitations to the usefulness of GNP or GDP as a measure of welfare, even if the GNP per capita is measured at purchasing power parity 

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