An integrated approach for estimating the energy efficiency of seventeen countries

Abstract

Increased energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to achieve climate change mitigation. This study aims to evaluate the energy efficiency of seventeen countries. The evaluation is based on an integrated method that combines the super slack-based (super SBM) model and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) to investigate the energy efficiency of seventeen countries during the period of 2010-2015. The results in this study are that the United States, Columbia, Japan, China, and Saudi Arabia perform the best in energy efficiency, whereas Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, and India perform the worst during the entire sample period. The energy efficiency of these countries arrived mainly from technological improvement. The study provides suggestions for the seventeen countries' government to control the energy consumption and contribute to environmental protection.