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Definition

What is the difference between primary and final energy consumption?
The primary energy consumption includes the consumption and conversion losses in the energy transformations, i.e. in the energy industries (e.g. power generation, refineries) while the final energy consumption is the sum of the consumption in industry (excluding the energy sector), transport, buildings (residential and services) and agriculture, excluding the fuels used for power generation by autoproducers.
Related question
- What is the definition of final energy savings?
What is the definition of final energy savings?
Final energy savings refer to the energy savings of final consumers, i.e. industry, buildings (i.e. residential and services), transport and agriculture, measures with the same definition as the final consumption (in particular to convert electricity into energy units).
What consumption are included in the transport sector?
The energy consumption of transport only includes the energy used for motive purposes (traction) and not the consumption in transport buildings (e.g. airport, railway station); the latter being included in services. It includes the consumption of road vehicles, trains and boats and airplanes used for domestic traffic. The consumption of airplanes for international traffic is included in some sources (e.g. case of Eurostat and Odyssee) and excluded in others (case of IEA).
What is border trade or fuel tourism?
Border trade or fuel tourism relates to the consumption of motor fuels that are purchased by foreign vehicles, mainly because of cheaper prices than in their own country. In energy consumption statics (i.e. energy balance), this consumption of foreign vehicles appears in the energy consumption of road transport. Some countries (13 in the EU) separate in some statistics and analysis what is consumed by domestic vehicles, the so called “domestic road consumption”, and what is consumed by foreign vehicles. Such a separation is also done in Odyssee and all energy efficiency indicators for road transport are calculated on the basis of this domestic road consumption. The magnitude of the border trade is especially important in Luxemburg as it represents 80% of the consumption of gasoline and diesel (26% in Austria, 16% in Slovenia and 12% in France, over the last 5 years).
Related question
- What is the unit consumption of road transport per car equivalent?

Methodology

Why energy consumption by end-use does not exactly match with total households consumption?
The estimate of the consumption by end-use usually apply to permanently occupied dwellings. Total household consumption may include the consumption of summer and week-end houses and, depending on the countries, some energy consumption for heating and lighting of common spaces in multi-family buildings.