The draft chapter contains several references to the handbook on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting 2003 (SEEA 2003).

Work is currently going on in relation to the revision of the SEEA 2003. Furthermore, work in relation to the SEEA-Energy is still in progress.

Therefore, in order to be sure that the chapter 11 in IRES on the compilation of energy accounts and the relation to energy balances and other statistics is consistent with and coordinated with the revised SEEA and the SEEA-E, this work must be taken into account.

Basic energy statistics is used in several other statistics and the aim of chapter 11 is in our view to highlight and describe the linkages between basic energy statistics and and the special needs main users require.

Energy accounts and its relation to energy balances is one such link, but other links must also be described and their special needs defined.

Main statistics using basic energy statistics, such as energy accounts, national accounts and air emission inventories/accounts are well described in other manuals, like the SEEA-Energy, SNA, and IPCC-guidelines. It is important that references to these manuals are made, but a detail description of these statistics is in our view not in the scope of the chapter.

Chapter 11:
1. Again, in general I am not able to comment in great detail on this chapter. I thought that it was an interesting read and found it helpful in explaining the differences between energy balances and energy accounts.

2. When listing the characteristics of gross and net energy flow accounts, what is meant by "physical terms"? Is this 1000 tonnes or in an energy unit such as TJ - or does it matter? I guess since there is a reference to double counting that it must be referring to energy units. Maybe this should be mentionned.

3. In the scheme in paragraph A27, shouldn't BUNKERS be subtracted from Gross inland consumption for the energy balances. I don't know about the SNA.

4. For part C, estimation of energy-related GHG emission inventories - I think that it is enough just to mention that the inventory methodologies are laid out in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. I don't think it is necessary to reproduce the methods here.

1.. Comment on the comments of Statistics Norway

I agree than that this chapter should not only deal with energy accounts, but also on other use of basic energy statistics, such as statistics on CO2-emissions. I think we agreed on that at the last meeting in Ottawa.

2.. Energy accounts

To my opinion it is not necessary to explain the whole concept of energy accounts. This is (will be) explained in the SEEA-Energy handbook in detail. This (sub)chapter should refer to SEEA-Energy in the first place and only the main characteristics could be mentioned (here and only here the link and relation between IRES and SEEA-Energy should be explained).

The main part of this (sub)chapter should be to identify the differences between energy accounts (SNA-principles) and basic energy statistics; and than, on the basis of these differences, practically explain what needs to be done additionally (including what additional data items should be collected, see my remark 2 on chapter 2) to produce energy accounts on the basis of basic energy statistics (including bridge tables to make it transparant).

To my opinion the concept chapter does not express sufficiently the relation between the documents IRES and SEEA-Energy.

I think that the name of the title should be changed to better reflect the move from energy balances to energy accounts and not the other way around. This is what we could suggest:

Relation of Energy Balances with Energy Accounts and other Statistics

Or

Use of Energy Balances in the Compilation of Energy Accounts and other Statistics


11.4 and 11.5: Be careful stocks does not have the same meaning in accounts and in balances.

11.7: Add "from fuel combustion" to CO2 emissions. Basic energy statistics do not allow estimation of total CO2 emissions.

11.25: There are several comments to say on this table (for instance, energy balances are not in physical units (as such) but in energy units, trade is missing, why are CHP statistics singled out, etc..), but if it is still a draft table no need to go in too many details.

On the use of the data, we should not forget energy efficiency indicators even though if they call on another level of details. But at one stage in the manual there will be a need to address the need for additional data to build energy efficiency indicators.