Country-Level Energy and Exergy Database to Improve Understanding of Energy and the Economy

A Country-Level Primary, Final, Useful Energy and Exergy Database to Improve Understanding of Energy and the Economy

Matthew Heun, Professor, Department of Engineering, Calvin University; Virtual Visiting
Research Fellow, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds; Extraordinary Professor, School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University

Paul Brockway, Associate Professor, Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds

Biographies
Matthew Kuperus Heun has taught Engineering at Calvin University since 2002 in the mechanical engineering and EESE (energy, environment, and sustainability engineering) concentrations. Prior to joining the faculty at Calvin, Matt worked for Global Aerospace Corporation and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His driving research question is "what is the relationship among energy, materials, and the economy when viewed through the lens of sustainability?" He has co-authored three books: A Framework for Sustainability Thinking: A student's introduction to global sustainability challenges, Beyond Stewardship, and Beyond GDP: National Accounting in the Age of Resource Depletion. He is an author on dozens of journal articles and conference papers covering refrigeration, air-conditioning, aerospace, energy, and sustainability topics. In 2023, he was the recipient of Calvin University's Presidential Award for Exemplary Teaching.

Dr Paul Brockway is an Associate Professor in Energy and Economics at the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of Leeds, UK. Originally a structural design engineer for over 15 years, Paul transitioned to academia via a PhD which explored energy rebound. He has started recently a new 4 year Leverhulme Trust project titled ‘Impacts of green growth and degrowth pathways using societal exergy analysis, which applies an Exergy Economics approach (combining thermodynamics, energy analysis and economics) to assess energy-emissions-economic impacts and implications of current ‘economic green growth’ and alternative ‘energy degrowth’ pathways, at a global and case study country level. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles.

Abstract
Over the last 7 years (2018-2025), we developed the Country-Level Primary, Final, Useful (CL-PFU) database of energy flows through societies from primary (e.g. coal, oil) to final (e.g. electricity, gasoline) to useful stages (e.g. motion, light), covering over 150 countries from 1971 to 2020. As such, it is the most comprehensive dataset of its type available anywhere in the world. Extending to the useful stage is important, as extension from final to useful elucidates the underappreciated role of efficiency in economic growth. That matters, as the upcoming energy transition is also an efficiency transition. And now we have data that can assist the research community to address questions about the future, such as "Is it possible to decouple economic activity from energy consumption?" and “What is the economic impact of the energy transition?”