| Summary: | Stated simply, this thesis focuses on the relationship between energy and the
economy. Using the foundation of King 2010, this analysis expands the scholarship from
a U.S. focus to perform Energy Intensity Ratio analysis on forty-four countries for the
time period 1978-2010. There are four fuels examined: coal, natural gas, crude oil and
electricity. Using both the price and expenditures based Energy Intensity Ratio methods,
outputs for each fuel in any applicable sector was determined. In addition, this work
compiles an estimate of the total energy expenditures for the majority of the world. By
examining the overall expenditures of gross domestic product spent on energy, the data
showed two points in time where energy appears to become a constraint on growth.
Though this thesis does not answer the question directly as to whether an increase in
energy expenditures “causes” an increase in economic growth, or whether an increase in
economic growth “causes” an increase in energy expenditures, the research shows that
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there may be a “threshold” effect whereby as energy expenditures become a greater share
of output, the ability of economic growth to take place is affected. === text
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