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
The Netherlands
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
Not for the figures in the PEFA Questionnaire
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not for the figures in the PEFA Questionnaire
8.1. Release calendar
We will publish this data in our statistical database ‘StatLine’ in November 2023.
8.2. Release calendar access
We will publish this data in our statistical database ‘StatLine’ in November 2023
8.3. Release policy - user access
Data published on the Statistic Netherlands’s website (Statline) is freely accessible for all users.
In 2023, a substantial revision of the PEFA was undertaken, departing from the Eurostat-provided PEFA builder. Instead, we adopted a more customized approach, utilizing the National Energy Balance Sheet data and developed R programming code. This transformation spanned the years 2014 to 2021, ensuring coherence and consistency in the timeseriess. The benefits of this approach include simultaneous production of PEFA questionnaires for multiple years, resulting in significant time savings, the ability to maintain data integrity through rigorous quality control measures, and the capacity to provide more accurate data on a more detailed level. This has casued deviations from the previous time series as we were able to include more detailed data and avoid general division keys that were used before. This revised methodology enhances the reliability of our energy statistics, streamlines production, and bolsters our commitment to providing accurate, timely data.
In 2021 we have done a grant project to further check an align different modules, including PEFA, AEA, EW MFA and our phsyical SUTs. The data from 2020 are used and the improvements are applied to all years and modules.
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
November 2023
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.
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
The PEFA questionnaire data seamlessly integrates as an input for the MFA (Material Flow Accounts) without the need for any adjustments, ensuring that the inputs align consistently with the PEFA dataset. The PEFA questionnaire exhibits partial compatibility with the AEA Both utilize similar division keys to generate sector-specific data; however, they draw from distinct source datasets. While the PEFA relies on data from the energy balance sheets, the AEA is grounded in data sourced from the Dutch Emission Authority. Despite the disparities in source data, rigorous methods have been employed to maximize consistency between the two, ensuring the highest possible level of harmonization.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable; reported PEFA data are only annual.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
The PEFA is constructed on the foundational principles of National Accounts, incorporating multiple datasets from the National Accounts to delineate specific sector divisions. The residency principle is applied as well.
15.3.3. Do you cooperate with national colleagues compiling AEA?
In 2023, the AEA and PEFA are compiled by the same employee of Statistics Netherlands. As said before, division keys are shared and cross comparisons are made regularly to ensure consistency.
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)?
We are using the same distribution keys as used for the Air emission Accounts:
• For passenger cars the distribution key is constructed out of energy used, calculated from fuel used per vehicle type and road performance per vehicle and fuel type. And with fixed assets and production as keys. Also the wages and salaries in kind are used to correct for the lease cars of the households. • For freight vehicles the distribution key is constructed with road performance data in NACE 19. For further breakdown to NACE 64 the fixed assets and production data is used. • For other vehicles like special purpose vehicles and motorcycles, a method quite similar to passenger cars keys is used. The correction for lease cars is not relevant here. And also other auxiliary transport data is used like amount of special purpose vehicles and amount of motorcycles from households and companies.
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)?
Yes
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?
Yes.
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)?
Certainly. Cross-domain plausibility checks are indeed conducted between PEFA data points and their corresponding counterparts in energy statistics, and it's worth noting that the data sources for these checks are primarily consistent.
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)?
The EW-MFA uses the results from the PEFA questionnaires.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Eurostat's validation procedures should ensure full internal consistency, at least for the mandatory data points.
0,2 FTE annually
17.1. Data revision - policy
Every year we recalculate the full time series of the PEFA from 2014onwards. Normally till t-1. This is done to align every single year completely with the Energy Balance (and changes that occur in there). The result is that there are no inconsistencies with the Energy statistics.
In 2023, a substantial revision of the PEFA was undertaken, departing from the Eurostat-provided PEFA builder. Instead, we adopted a more customized approach, utilizing the National Energy Balance Sheet data and developed R programming code. This transformation spanned the years 2014 to 2021, ensuring coherence and consistency in the timeseriess. The benefits of this approach include simultaneous production of PEFA questionnaires for multiple years, resulting in significant time savings, the ability to maintain data integrity through rigorous quality control measures, and the capacity to provide more accurate data on a more detailed level. This has casued deviations from the previous time series as we were able to include more detailed data and avoid general division keys that were used before. This revised methodology enhances the reliability of our energy statistics, streamlines production, and bolsters our commitment to providing accurate, timely data.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Revisions are annlually due to new source data fro the complete time sries fro mthe Energy Statistics. The same revision policy is applied to the AEA. It enhances the consistency to do this fro the PEFA as well.
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)?
Energy Joined Questionnaires + Dutch Energy Balances + Transport Statistics + National Accounts data.
18.1.2. Which are the main data sources you employ for supply of energy products (e.g. electricity, refinery products etc.)?
Energy Joined Questionnaires + Dutch 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)?
Energy Joined Questionnaires + Dutch Energy Balances + Transport Statistics + National Accounts data.
18.1.4. Which are the main data sources you employ for the end use by end user entities (including non-energy use)?
Energy Joined Questionnaires + Dutch Energy Balances + Transport Statistics + National Accounts data.
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?
Transport Statistics
18.1.6. Do you use the PEFA builder? If yes: for populating the PEFA Tables, or for control only?
No. The PEFA Builder was used before 2023. After the 2023 revision the PEFA builder was not used.
18.1.7. Which data sources do you use to make adjustments for the residence principle?
The adjustment for the residence principle is made by using transport statistics- the road traffic performance data categorised in residence (in the Netherlands and abroad) and non-residence, in vehicle types and fuel type.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual
18.3. Data collection
See 18.1
18.4. Data validation
See 18.1
18.5. Data compilation
The data compilation has been programmed in R in the year 2023. The main source material is explained in section 18.1. The compilation focusses on the division to NACE catgories and to energy carrier and applying the resident principle.
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?
Not all the supply of electricity is allocated to NACE D35. Sectors that derive their energy from alternative sources like wind and solar are allocated either to their respective economic sectors or to households.
The assignment is NOT fully alligned to the ESA monetary supply table submitted by our country, this will be done after the next revision of the national accounts in 2024.
18.5.3. Which method do you use for the allocation of road transport energy use to NACE industries and households?
We are using the same distribution keys as used for the Air emission Accounts:
• For passenger cars the distribution key is constructed out of energy used, calculated from fuel used per vehicle type and road performance per vehicle and fuel type. And with fixed assets and production as keys. Also the wages and salaries in kind are used to correct for the lease cars of the households. • For freight vehicles the distribution key is constructed with road performance data in NACE 19. For further breakdown to NACE 64 the fixed assets and production data is used. • For other vehicles like special purpose vehicles and motorcycles, a method quite similar to passenger cars keys is used. The correction for lease cars is not relevant here. And also other auxiliary transport data is used like amount of special purpose vehicles and amount of motorcycles from households and companies.
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)?
We apply different division keys such as the monetary supply and use tables or data on the employed people to a specific sector.
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)?
By applying the same dicision keys where possible. Both rely on different data sources as explained in section 18.1.
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.
The Netherlands
The data refer to the calendar year.
In 2023, a substantial revision of the PEFA was undertaken, departing from the Eurostat-provided PEFA builder. Instead, we adopted a more customized approach, utilizing the National Energy Balance Sheet data and developed R programming code. This transformation spanned the years 2014 to 2021, ensuring coherence and consistency in the timeseriess. The benefits of this approach include simultaneous production of PEFA questionnaires for multiple years, resulting in significant time savings, the ability to maintain data integrity through rigorous quality control measures, and the capacity to provide more accurate data on a more detailed level. This has casued deviations from the previous time series as we were able to include more detailed data and avoid general division keys that were used before. This revised methodology enhances the reliability of our energy statistics, streamlines production, and bolsters our commitment to providing accurate, timely data.
In 2021 we have done a grant project to further check an align different modules, including PEFA, AEA, EW MFA and our phsyical SUTs. The data from 2020 are used and the improvements are applied to all years and modules.
The unit of measure is terajoule (TJ).
The data compilation has been programmed in R in the year 2023. The main source material is explained in section 18.1. The compilation focusses on the division to NACE catgories and to energy carrier and applying the resident principle.
Data sources used to produce physical energy flow accounts are described in the following sub-concepts.
annual
November 2023
Data on PEFA are compiled according to international guidelines and insofar comparable. Application of the PEFA Builder tool ensures comparability to a certain extent.
