The Physical Energy Flow Accounts (PEFA) record the production and use of different energy sources by economic activity - according to the same principles as in the National accounts (NA). This establishes a coherent link of economic data with energy data, but results in deviations from the energy statistics of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) (cf. the methodological notes below).
Further information
Tables
Data
Publications
Methodologies
Data from the Physical Energy Flow Accounts (PEFA) are part of the environmental accounting produced by the Federal Statistical Office. The Methodology was developed by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, on the basis of the UN System of Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA).
The PEFA are composite statistics based on different data sources. The Swiss Overall Energy Statistics, established by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) is the main source. For the breakdown of energy use by economic activity, estimations had to be made where no statistics were available.
The Overall Energy Statistics and its partial statistics such as the Swiss electricity statistics, also established by the SFOE, are the basic components for Swiss energy policy at national and international level. Their statistical demarcations meet international standards on energy statistics such as those defined by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Eurostat and the UN. They are also used to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions inventory and the CO2 statistics carried out by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).
Starting from the SFOE statistics, the FSO makes adjustments to ensure that PEFA data is consistent with the National accounts (NA). This means that the PEFA data differ from the SFOE statistics. These differences stem particularly from the fact that energy used abroad by businesses and households resident in Switzerland is included, whereas energy used in Switzerland by businesses and households that are not resident in Switzerland is excluded. Energy used for the production of imported and exported goods is not taken into consideration.
Another major difference between the Overall Energy Statistics and the PEFA is in the categories used. In the Overall Energy Statistics, in accordance with international standards on energy statistics, transport is treated as a consumer category on its own, separate from households, industry and services, whereas in the PEFA, to respect the structure of the National Accounts (NA), consumption for transport is divided between economic sectors and households.
The energy use recorded in the PEFA statistics is comprised mainly of transformation losses and the consumption of second sector industries active in the transformation of energy (19, 35 and partly 38), as well as the final energy consumption of the other sectors and private households.
The adjustments made as well as the breakdown by industry are generally estimates as such information is often unavailable first-hand. In this respect, the data provided by PEFA are subject to greater uncertainty than the SFOE’s underlying statistics. The PEFA are primarily useful for cross-analysis with economic data and should therefore be used for this purpose.
Supply and use tables
The supply and use tables (SUT) represent an accounting framework to describe energy flows:
- from the environment to the economy (extraction of energy sources)
- within the economy (energy transformation)
- from the economy to the environment (consumption and dissipation)
The supply table shows the amount of energy produced per industry and energy source. The usage table shows the amount of energy consumed or converted per industry and households. By using the two tables together, the entire energy flow from extraction or import to complete consumption can be traced. The individual energy transformations can also be tracked.
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Statistical sources and concepts
Contact
Federal Statistical Office Section Environment, Sustainable Development, TerritoryEspace de l'Europe 10
CH-2010 Neuchâtel
Switzerland