Criteria, Indicators, and Factors of the Sustainable Energy-Saving Economic Development: The Case of Natural Gas Consumption

Abstract

To solve the contradiction between achieving long-term economic growth and reducing the consumption of certain types of resources, the concept of sustainable resource saving economic development must be put into practice. The purpose of this research is to establish criteria, develop indicators, and identify factors of the sustainable energy-saving economic development, as well as to test the developed theoretical provisions using the example of natural gas consumption by different countries. To achieve this goal, various methods were used, including economic and mathematical modeling, time series analysis, factor analysis, regression analysis, and so on. The criteria were formalized, according to which a certain type of economic development can be attributed to energy saving both at the level of the state economy as a whole and at the level of individual industries and enterprises. It was established that the formalized criteria of the sustainable energy-saving economic development have the form of chains of inequalities, and their application makes it possible to identify the general conditions for ensuring this type of development. The main properties of energy-saving economic development were identified. They include the pace of this development, its potential, balance, permanence, and other characteristics. Indicators that can be used to quantify these characteristics were developed. The factors influencing the scale and time characteristics of sustainable energy-saving economic development at the level of the state economy and that of industries and individual enterprises, were systematized. The dynamics of natural gas consumption in different countries was analyzed. The reasons for the lack of energy-saving natural gas economic development in some countries were identified. A quantitative assessment of the properties of this type of economic development by country was conducted. The influence of some factors on the parameters of the sustainable energy-saving natural gas economic development of countries was analyzed. The existence of a negative effect of the rebound in the consumption of natural gas was established at certain intervals in some countries. The obtained results provide an opportunity to increase the degree of understanding of the complex patterns that underlie the sustainable energy-saving economic development of states, industries, and enterprises. These results can also be used in the development of government programs to stimulate energy conservation.