A framework to analyze the consumption of energy

This paper describes an analytical tool that allows to investigate the effects of proposed economic and technological development paths on the consumption of energy. In order to depict the technological realities a Framework to Analyze the Consumption of Energy (FACE) makes use of the 'vintage approach' (Johansen, 1972), describing explicitly the technological standard at a given point in time. This approach takes into account that major changes in specific energy use are only possible through investments in new equipment. Changes over time are depicted in much more detail than by using average values to describe the energy needs of the various production processes. An even more important feature is, that the time required and the steps taken to realize certain improvements can be analyzed in detail