Is Embodied Energy a Better Starting Point for Solving Energy Security Issues?—Based on an Overview of Embodied Energy-Related Research

Abstract

Embodied energy is termed as the total (direct and indirect) energy required to produce economic or environmental goods and services. It is different from the direct energy measurement of energy consumption. Due to the importance of energy security, it has attracted increasing attention. In order to explore whether and to what extent embodied energy can provide a more innovative approach and competitive perspective to energy security issues, 2608 relevant pieces of literature from the Web of Science core collection are analyzed in this study. Results show that embodied energy has been taken seriously. Moreover, by reviewing the typical literature, this paper first summarizes the embodied energy calculation methods and models, then investigates how embodied energy provides a new perspective to energy issues, and lastly analyzes how to show value in energy security issues in its application of guiding policy-making and energy security studies. In summary, there is no doubt that embodied energy can provide a more integrated perspective on energy consumption and demand and provide a more scientific reference for policy-making to enhance energy security. However, because of data and application scope limitations, establishing a comprehensive energy security research and application system with embodied energy measurements needs hard work.