Estonia's Energy-related Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 1995-2011: A Structural Decomposition Analysis

Estonia's economy has undergone significant changes between 1995 and 2011. The economy has increased two-fold over this period. However, this economic growth did not result in a corresponding increase in energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which remained at approximately the level of 1995. A structural decomposition analysis (SDA) was used to define the factors influencing the level of GHG emissions and to scrutinise the role of each contribution to the trends in the emissions over this period of 17 years. The main findings of the study highlighted that, although increasing final consumption of Estonia¡¯s goods and services both domestically and abroad resulted in the growth of GHG emissions, these emissions were successfully offset by the improvements in energy use efficiency undertaken primarily by the electrical and thermal energy generation industry and the continual optimisation undertaken by all other economic sectors involved in intermediate consumption of energy during the entire period.