Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA) is one module of the European environmental-economic accounts - Regulation (EU) 691/2011 Annex VI. PEFA record the flows of energy (in terajoules) from the environment to the economy (natural inputs), within the economy (products), and from the economy back to the environment (residuals), using the accounting framework of physical supply and use tables.
PEFA provide information on energy flows arranged in a way fully compatible with concepts, principles, and classifications of national accounts – thus enabling integrated analyses of environmental, energy and economic issues e.g. through environmental-economic modelling. PEFA complement the traditional energy statistics, balances and derived indicators which are the main reference data source for EU energy policies.
This national metadata refers to the PEFA questionnaire delivered to Eurostat: data on supply (table A), use (table B), transformation use (table B1), end use (table B2) and emission-relevant use (table C), key indicators of physical energy flow accounts by NACE Rev. 2 activity (table D), and physical energy flow accounts totals bridging to energy balances totals (table E).
Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA) datasets have the following dimensions:
Supply and use tables (STK_FLOW): the elements of this dimension are the five tables detailing energy supply (questionnaire table A) and use; the total energy use (table B) is the sum of transformation use (table B1) and end use (table B2), and a certain part of it is emission relevant (table C).
Energy product (PROD_NRG): (not relevant for questionnaire table D and E) The flows of energy recorded in PEFA are broadly grouped into natural energy inputs (flows from environment to economy), energy products (flows within economy), and energy residuals (flows from economy to environment mainly). Each of these generic groups is further broken down. In total this dimension distinguishes 31 items which are regulated in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/172.
Classification of economic activities - NACE Rev.2 (NACE_R2): (not relevant for questionnaire table E) The supply and use of energy flows is broken down by NACE classification of economic activities. The aggregation level used is A*64 (i.e. 64 branches), fully compatible with ESA supply and use tables. Furthermore, this dimension includes private households, accumulation (e.g. product inventories), the rest of the world economy for imports and exports, and the environment.
Indicators (INDIC_PEFA): (only relevant for questionnaire tables D and E): Various key indicators that can be derived from the physical supply and use tables and so-called 'bridging-items' which present the various elements explaining the differences between the national totals as reported by PEFA vis-a-vis the national totals as reported by Eurostat's energy balances.
Geopolitical entity (GEO): EU Member States, EFTA countries, candidate countries, and potential candidates.
Period of time (TIME): Energy flow data are annual.
Unit (UNIT): Energy flows are reported in Terajoules.
3.3. Coverage - sector
The data set covers the entire national economy as defined in national accounts (ESA 2010, paragraph 2.04), as well as its physical relation to economies in the rest of the world and the environment.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA) are conceptually rooted in the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) which is an international statistical standard. The SEEA central framework provides standard concepts, definitions, classifications, accounting rules and tables for the provision of statistics on the environment and its relationship with the economy. PEFA constitute satellite accounts to the National Accounts (NA). Hence, the statistical concepts and definitions of PEFA are derived from those of NA. As far as applicable PEFA is also compliant with the statistical concepts and definitions internationally established for energy statistics: the International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES). Three concepts are essential to PEFA: 1) The concept of three generic types of energy flows as established in SEEA, namely: a) natural energy inputs: flows from the natural environment into the economy such as fossil energy carriers in solid, liquid and gaseous form, biomass, solar radiation, kinetic energy in form of hydro and wind, geothermal heat etc.; b) energy products: output flows from production processes as defined in national accounts (ESA); typically products produced by extractive industries, refineries, power plants etc.; c) energy residuals: mainly energy in form of dissipative heat arising from the end use of energy products, flowing from the economy into the natural environment. 2) The accounting framework of (physical) supply and use tables as established in NA and SEEA; 3) The residence principle as established in NA and SEEA, i.e. PEFA records energy flows related to resident unit's activities, regardless where those occur geographically.
3.5. Statistical unit
Data refer to activities of resident economic units in the sense of SEEA CF 2012 and national accounts (ESA), including households.
3.6. Statistical population
The national economy is as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and national accounts (ESA); i.e. all economic activities undertaken by resident units (see ESA 2010, paragraph 2.04). A unit is said to be a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of economic interest in the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (1 year or more) in economic activities in that territory.
3.7. Reference area
Ireland
3.8. Coverage - Time
2014-2021
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The unit of measure is terajoule (TJ).
The data refer to the calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
PEFA are legally covered by Regulation (EC) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts as amended by Regulation (EU) No. 538/2014. EEEA currently include six modules (air emissions accounts, environmentally related taxes by economic activity, economy-wide material flow accounts, environmental protection expenditure accounts, environmental goods and services sector accounts, and physical energy flow accounts).
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
All information supplied to the CSO is treated as strictly confidential. The Statistics Act, 1993 sets stringent confidentiality standards: Information collected may be used only for statistical purposes, and no details that might be related to an identifiable person or business undertaking may be divulged to any other government department or body.
These national statistical confidentiality provisions are reinforced by the following EU legislation: Council Regulation (EC) No. 223/2009 on European statistics for data collected for EU statistical purposes. Further details are outlined in the CSO's Code of Practice on Statistical Confidentiality.
All confidential data are treated in accordance with Part V of the Statistics Act, 1993.
8.1. Release calendar
The date of dissemination of all statistics released by the CSO can be found in the Release Calendar published by the CSO. This calendar is regularly updated.
In accordance with Principle 6 of the European Statistics Code of Practice all users of CSO statistics have equal access via the CSO website at the same time of 11 am. Any privileged pre-release access to any outside user is limited, controlled, and publicised. If leaks occur, pre-release arrangements are revised to ensure impartiality.
The CSO recognises that in very limited circumstances a business need for pre-release access may be substantiated. Any form of pre-release access is a privilege and a strict CSO pre-release access policy is adhered to for these special requests. The full pre-release access policy can be accessed at https://www.cso.ie/en/aboutus/lgdp/csodatapolicies/csopolicyonpre-releaseaccess/
The various results are published nationally in statistical release format on the CSO website (www.cso.ie). Selected extracts from the results are posted on the CSO’s data dissemination database, PxStat.
Annually by Eurostat. The PEFA for Ireland are published annually as the Business Energy Use survey.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
The Business Energy Use survey is published as a statistical release.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
The Business Energy Use statistical release is published on the CSO's website.
The Business Energy Use survey is available on the CSO's online database PxStat.
https://data.cso.ie/#
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
The CSO are planning to prepare a microdata research file (RMF) for the Business Energy Use survey.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
For further details on the data collection, including the questionnaire and manual, please see the relevant section on the methodology page on the Eurostat website.
The results of the Business Energy Use survey are compared with the Energy Balance for Ireland which is compliled by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
11.1. Quality assurance
The CSO avails of an office wide Quality Management Framework (QMF). This framework allows all CSO processes and outputs to meet the required standard as set out in the European Statistics Code of Practice (ESCOP). The QMF foundations are based on establishing the UNECE’s Generic Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM) as the operating statistical production model to achieve a standardised approach to Quality Management. All and any changes implemented to CSO processes and outputs require adherence to the QMF.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Quality Management Self-Assessments (QMSA) are carried out on an annual basis by the CSO.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Fuel purchases are a substantial portion of enterprise costs and are a cause of pollution. Hence there is a large policy interest in understanding the amount of energy used by different enterprise sectors and in monitoring take-up on more energy efficient and less polluting fuels.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not measured.
12.3. Completeness
PEFA are one of the environmental-economic accounts. They provide information on energy flows arranged in a way that is fully compatible with concepts, principles, and classifications of national accounts.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.4. Processing error
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
14.1. Timeliness
The completed PEFA questionnaires are transmitted annually to Eurostat by the required deadline.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Not applicable.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
Not applicable.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Data on PEFA are compiled according to international guidelines and insofar comparable. Application of the PEFA Builder tool ensures comparability to a certain extent.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Please see the table in 15.2.1.1. Previous years of the Business Energy Use survey are revised annually as necessary.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.
15.2.1.1. Comparability - over time detailed
Please use below table for explaining b)-flags (breaks in time series):
Year (of the break in series)
Questionnaire table(s)
Columns (NACE Rev. 2 activity, households etc.)
Rows (natural energy inputs, energy products, energy residuals)
Reason for' break in time series'
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
PEFA results are coherent with AEA and ESA supply and use tables. The Business Energy Use survey is a common data source for PEFA, AEA and SUT.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable; reported PEFA data are only annual.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
PEFA results are coherent with ESA supply and use tables. The Business Energy Use survey is a common data source for both.
15.3.3. Do you cooperate with national colleagues compiling AEA?
Yes. Residence principle adjustment is consistent with AEA. NACE breakdown in PEFA and AEA are based primarily on the CSO's Business Energy Use survey.
15.3.4. Are there compilation elements that PEFA compilers jointly undertake with AEA compilers (e.g. distribution of road transport fuel use and emissions by NACE)?
Residence principle adjustment is consistent with AEA. NACE breakdown in PEFA and AEA are based primarily on the Business Energy Use survey.
15.3.5. Do you report in PEFA imports and exports according to the SEEA-CF concepts for trade in goods (see SEEA-CF section 3.3.3, paras. 3.121 ff., and para. 1.46)?
The imports and exports data comes from the 5 annual Eurostat/IEA joint questionnaires.
15.3.6. Do you perform cross-domain plausibility checks between your PEFA data on air transport versus OECD's data on CO2-emissions of air transport?
The OECD Air Transport CO2 Emissions database is one of the data sources used to adjust the PEFA data for the residence principle.
15.3.7. Do you perform cross-domain plausibility checks between PEFA data points and corresponding data points in energy statistics (see PEFA validation rules)?
Yes, the built-in checks in the PEFA questionnaire are used.
15.3.8. Do you perform cross-domain plausibility checks between PEFA data points and the corresponding data points in economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) (see PEFA validation rules)?
Yes, the built-in checks in the PEFA questionnaire are used.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Eurostat's validation procedures should ensure full internal consistency, at least for the mandatory data points.
The Business Energy Use survey is conducted annually by the CSO to obtain the NACE breakdown for PEFA and AEA. The primary purpose of the survey is to provide estimates of the quantities and costs of energy products used by enterprises in the Industry and Services sectors to operate their businesses. A representative sample is taken of all enterprises with 3 to 249 persons engaged and a full census of enterprises with 250 or more persons engaged is also taken. The Business Energy Use survey data is integrated with administrative data - Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) received from the Environmental Energy Agency (EPA), Large Industry Energy Network (LIEN) and Public Sector Energy Programme (PSEP) data received from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Utility (i.e. electricity and natural gas) meter data is also used.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Revisions refer to changes made to published statistical data when the information used in its production has been updated or corrected. This information includes all data used in compiling the statistic e.g., respondent data, administrative data, weights and factors, methodology, classifications, definitions, modifications to survey questionnaires, survey scope and data collection methods. The Business Energy Use results used to produce the NACE breakdown are subject to revision.
The Business Energy Use results used to produce the NACE breakdown are subject to revision.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.
18.1. Source data
Data sources used to produce physical energy flow accounts are described in the following sub-concepts.
18.1.1. Which are the main data sources you employ for the use of natural energy inputs (i.e. who is extracting)?
5 annual joint Eurostat/IEA energy questionnaires compiled by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
18.1.2. Which are the main data sources you employ for supply of energy products (e.g. electricity, refinery products etc.)?
5 annual joint Eurostat/IEA energy questionnaires compiled by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The SEAI use the results of the Business Energy Use survey in the compilation of Energy Balances.
18.1.3. Which are the main data sources you employ for the transformation use by energy transforming entities (NACE 2-digit divisions)?
5 annual joint Eurostat/IEA energy questionnaires compiled by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
18.1.4. Which are the main data sources you employ for the end use by end user entities (including non-energy use)?
5 annual joint Eurostat/IEA energy questionnaires compiled by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
18.1.5. Which auxiliary data do you use to develop 'distribution keys' to assign energy use to the detailed breakdown of production activities (NACE 2-digit divisions) and categories of household consumption?
Annual Business Energy Use survey conducted by the CSO.
18.1.6. Do you use the PEFA builder? If yes: for populating the PEFA Tables, or for control only?
Yes. It is used for populating the PEFA Tables.
18.1.7. Which data sources do you use to make adjustments for the residence principle?
Fuel tourism (road transport) estimate from Energy Balance; Road Freight Transport survey data on tonne-km travelled abroad and the OECD Air Transport CO2 Emissions database.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual
18.3. Data collection
The data used to produce the PEFA is collected on an annual basis.
18.4. Data validation
The built-in checks in the questionnaire are used for data validation
18.5. Data compilation
The PEFA tables are compiled using the PEFA Builder.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applicable.
18.5.2. Do you assign all supply of electricity and heat to NACE D35, or do you assign some to other NACE divisions than D35? Is the assignment you did fully aligned to the ESA monetary supply table submitted by your country?
All supply of electricity and heat is assigned to NACE D35.
18.5.3. Which method do you use for the allocation of road transport energy use to NACE industries and households?
The Business Energy Use is used to allocate road tranport energy use to NACE industries and the SEAI's Energy Balance for private cars on the road is used to allocate road transport energy use to households.
18.5.4. Which method do you use for the allocation of energy use to detailed service industries (i.e. NACE 2-digit divisions 55-98)?
The Business Energy Use survey provides estimates of the quantities and costs of energy products used by enterprises in the Industry and Services sectors to operate their businesses (i.e. NACE 2-digit divisions 05-96).
18.5.5. How do you ensure a coherent assignment of energy use to economic activities (i.e. the use of energy products by a given production activity (NACE A*64 division) reported in PEFA must be coherent with the emissions reported in AEA)?
The NACE breakdown in PEFA and AEA are based primarily on the Business Energy Use survey.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA) is one module of the European environmental-economic accounts - Regulation (EU) 691/2011 Annex VI. PEFA record the flows of energy (in terajoules) from the environment to the economy (natural inputs), within the economy (products), and from the economy back to the environment (residuals), using the accounting framework of physical supply and use tables.
PEFA provide information on energy flows arranged in a way fully compatible with concepts, principles, and classifications of national accounts – thus enabling integrated analyses of environmental, energy and economic issues e.g. through environmental-economic modelling. PEFA complement the traditional energy statistics, balances and derived indicators which are the main reference data source for EU energy policies.
This national metadata refers to the PEFA questionnaire delivered to Eurostat: data on supply (table A), use (table B), transformation use (table B1), end use (table B2) and emission-relevant use (table C), key indicators of physical energy flow accounts by NACE Rev. 2 activity (table D), and physical energy flow accounts totals bridging to energy balances totals (table E).
Physical energy flow accounts (PEFA) are conceptually rooted in the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) which is an international statistical standard. The SEEA central framework provides standard concepts, definitions, classifications, accounting rules and tables for the provision of statistics on the environment and its relationship with the economy. PEFA constitute satellite accounts to the National Accounts (NA). Hence, the statistical concepts and definitions of PEFA are derived from those of NA. As far as applicable PEFA is also compliant with the statistical concepts and definitions internationally established for energy statistics: the International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES). Three concepts are essential to PEFA: 1) The concept of three generic types of energy flows as established in SEEA, namely: a) natural energy inputs: flows from the natural environment into the economy such as fossil energy carriers in solid, liquid and gaseous form, biomass, solar radiation, kinetic energy in form of hydro and wind, geothermal heat etc.; b) energy products: output flows from production processes as defined in national accounts (ESA); typically products produced by extractive industries, refineries, power plants etc.; c) energy residuals: mainly energy in form of dissipative heat arising from the end use of energy products, flowing from the economy into the natural environment. 2) The accounting framework of (physical) supply and use tables as established in NA and SEEA; 3) The residence principle as established in NA and SEEA, i.e. PEFA records energy flows related to resident unit's activities, regardless where those occur geographically.
Data refer to activities of resident economic units in the sense of SEEA CF 2012 and national accounts (ESA), including households.
The national economy is as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and national accounts (ESA); i.e. all economic activities undertaken by resident units (see ESA 2010, paragraph 2.04). A unit is said to be a resident unit of a country when it has a centre of economic interest in the economic territory of that country, that is, when it engages for an extended period (1 year or more) in economic activities in that territory.
Ireland
The data refer to the calendar year.
Not applicable to statistical accounts.
The unit of measure is terajoule (TJ).
The PEFA tables are compiled using the PEFA Builder.
Data sources used to produce physical energy flow accounts are described in the following sub-concepts.
Annually by Eurostat. The PEFA for Ireland are published annually as the Business Energy Use survey.
The completed PEFA questionnaires are transmitted annually to Eurostat by the required deadline.
Data on PEFA are compiled according to international guidelines and insofar comparable. Application of the PEFA Builder tool ensures comparability to a certain extent.
Please see the table in 15.2.1.1. Previous years of the Business Energy Use survey are revised annually as necessary.
