Energy Saving Targets

A total factor energy saving target ratio (ESTR) for seventeen APEC economies over 1991-2000 is computed in this paper. All nominal terms are transformed into real terms at the 1995 price level. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach is used to find the energy-saving target (EST) for APEC economies without reducing their maximum potential GDPs. Energy, labor, and capital are the three inputs, while the real GDP transformed by purchasing power parties is the single output. Our major empirical findings are as follows: 1. China has the largest energy saving target with almost half amount of its current usage. 2. Hong Kong, Philippines, the United States have the highest energy-usage efficiency. 3. The energy-usage efficiency is generally increasing for APEC economies except for Canada and New Zealand. 4. Chile, Mexico, and Taiwan have significantly improving their energy-usage efficiency in the recent five years. 5. An EKC relation exists between per capita ESTR and per capita GDP.