RECENT figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have unveiled that the use of more efficient engines has halved the transport sector’s energy intensity over the last thirty years.
According to the figures, the transport sector’s energy intensity fell by 49 per cent from 1976-77 to 2006-07.
The ABS reported that transport attained significantly greater declines in energy intensity than other industries.
It said this result is expected given that transport operating costs are dominated by fuel costs, and the end of very low fuel prices in Australia in the late 1970s provided the impetus for the adoption of more efficient engines which, in turn, contributed to lower fuel intensity.
Energy intensity is a measure of the energy used to produce one unit of economic output. A decrease in energy intensity means the industry’s contribution to the economy is growing faster than its use of fuel.
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