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 reference area is Austria although the PEFA are based on the residence principle and therefore show the energy use of the residents of Austria, irrespective of the place where the use of energy takes place.
3.8. Coverage - Time
The PEFA for Austria are available for years 2013 and later and are published on an annual basis.
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).
On national level, the Bundesstatistikgesetz 2000 (Federal Statistics Act 2000) as well as the Datenschutzgesetz (data protection act) are regulating the confidentiality applied to the data.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
There are no confidential data entering the PEFA from the underlying statistics (energy balances, energy use analysis, energy accounts and energy consumption surveys).
8.1. Release calendar
A release calendar can be found on the website of Statistics Austria.
8.2. Release calendar access
The release calendar provides a comprehensive preview of scheduled release dates of main results on the website of Statistics Austria (accessible via „MEDIA“)
Since release dates are planned sometimes far in advance, changes of dates might occur in both directions. Therefore, the release calendar is updated continually. Users are kindly asked to be aware of the latest update.
8.3. Release policy - user access
The information indicated below refers to the Federal Statistics Act 2000 (Bundesstatistikgesetz 2000) - (Bundesgesetzblatt BGBL - Issue of 17 August 1999 - No.163)
Publication of statistics
Article 19. (1) Federal Statistics bodies are obliged to make statistics that are ordered by regulation (article 4 (1) hereabove) and all other statistics and their concepts, definitions and explanations accessible to the public without delay and in an appropriate form, unless a Federal Act or legal act within the meaning of article 4 (1) no.1 hereabove or an international agreement provides otherwise.
Special publication obligations
Article 30. (1) In addition to the publication according to article 19 (1) hereabove, Statistics Austria shall also grant public access to the main results of the statistics on the internet. These publications shall be free of charge. (1a) (1) shall also apply – subject to article 19 (1) hereabove – to statistics pursuant to article 23 (2) hereabove, provided the client does not publish them himself within two months of completion of the statistics. (2) Additionally, Statistics Austria shall provide public access to the detailed results of the statistics via an adequate electronic database in return for an appropriate fee to cover its costs. (3) Statistics Austria shall immediately inform the competent federal minister on the results of the statistical surveys. Simultaneously, these results shall be made publicly available in an appropriate manner. (4) Statistics Austria shall document the transmission of results of statistical surveys to international institutions pursuant to article 18. The results shall be made available to the public as soon as possible. (5) Publications pursuant to (1) to (4) hereabove are subject to article 19 (2) and (3).
Use of statistical data for scientific purposes
Article 31. (1) Statistics Austria may provide access to non-personal data that has not been published pursuant to article 30 (2) hereabove to suitably qualified persons and scientific institutions for scientific purposes following approval of the use to which it will be put and payment of an appropriate fee to cover costs. (2) In granting access pursuant to (1) hereabove, Statistics Austria shall implement data security measures in order to prevent the identification of personal data using means that may be reasonably applied, and to prevent the storage of personal statistical data on external media. (3) The use of personal statistical data for scientific purposes is prohibited.
The PEFA are published annually at the end of September. On national level, the data are published on the homepage of Statistics Austria.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
No press releases are published for the PEFA on national level.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Not applicable.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
PEFA are published in the statistical database STATcube.
Periodic feed-back talks with main users of energy and environmental statistics in collaboration with the quality management and methodological team within Statistics Austria. See also point 12.1.
An ESS peer review has taken place in spring 2022.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The results of the most recent ESS peer review undertaken in spring were published in May 2022.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Main unsers of energy and environmental statistics in general are ministries and other administrative bodies, research institutes, international organisations as well as the general public.
Regarding energy consumptions of households, energy consumptions in the service sector, energy consumption of small to medium sized industries, and useful energy analysis in industries we periodically conduct feedback talks with main users.
For international trade in goods statistics, we receive feedback e.g. via the yearly meeting of main stakeholders (Fachbeirat).
Regarding material input statistics (including energetic input), the survey is especially designed for NSI intern input to other statistics (I/O, energy statistics, environmental statistics, …).
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
User surveys are being conducted in regular intervals.
12.3. Completeness
See 12.3.1.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Assessment for underlying data sources:
Name of the national data collection
Most common errors for this collection
Energy consumptions of households
Sampling errors
Energy consumptions in the service sector
Measurement errors
Classification errors
Energy consumption of small to medium sized industries
Measurement errors
Useful energy analysis in industries
Measurement errors
Monthly electricity statistics
Not available.
Monthly natural gas statistics
Not available.
Monthly Oil Statistics
Not available.
Reserves of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products
Not available.
Direct reporting by companies
Not available.
Emission trading scheme (ETS)
Not available.
Short term statistics in industry and construction
Not available.
International Trade in Goods Statistics
Classification errors
Material Input Statistics (including energetic input)
Measurement errors
Classification errors
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
t+21. National publication is also done at t+21, at the same time as reporting to Eurostat.
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 are insofar comparable.
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
Comparable time series available starting in 2013. Therefore, no breaks in time series are present.
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
See 15.3.1 to 15.3.8.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable; reported PEFA data are only annual.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
National accounts data sometimes is based on models where PEFA data is based on energy consumption surveys from energy statistics. Collaboration with the national nccounts team is being built up and data from energy consumption surveys has been submitted to the national accounts team. Therefore, coherence between the two statistics is expected to increase in the future.
15.3.3. Do you cooperate with national colleagues compiling AEA?
There is a close cooperation between the colleagues working on AEA and PEFA.
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)?
Questions regarding transport and adaptation to the residence principle are dealt with jointly (AEA and PEFA).
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)?
PEFA is based on energy statistics to a large extent and uses foreign trade data from energy statistics. Adaptations - where necessary - are made to adapt the foreign trade data to the residence principle (according to SEEA-CF guidelines) e.g. for fuel consumption of gasoline, diesel etc.
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?
Data on air transport that enter table E(Bridging items) come directly from the OECD´s data on CO2-emissions database (and are converted to TJ).
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)?
The main data source for the PEFA are energy statistics. PEFA is compiled in the energy statistics team using the same data sources as energy balances. PEFA and energy statistics are therefore comparable (as far as possible due different definitions).
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)?
Data from the PEFA is provided to the colleagues responsible for EW-MFA and cross checks are done by them.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Eurostat's validation procedures should ensure full internal consistency, at least for the mandatory data points.
Reg. (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates cost effectiveness as statistical principle; however, there is no legal obligation to provide cost and burden information in quality reports. Such an obligation is also not covered by sectoral legislation. Due to the fact that consistent standards and definitions for cost reporting are currently not available and are yet to be developed by the RDG-expert group, there is a high risk of misrepresentation and distortions when comparing costs of statistics production across countries. Statistics Austria will, hence, not provide any information until agreed harmonised reporting standards are in place.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The revisions policy of Statistics Austria is available online (see link).
For energy consumptions of households, energy consumptions in the service sector, energy consumption of small to medium sized industries, useful energy analysis in industries, and direct reporting by companies, revisions occur due to methodological changes or availability of more reliable data.
With regard to short-term statistics in industry and construction, preliminary results are available 90 days after the reference period, and final results in October of the following year.
For international trade in goods statistics, monthly revision is done until publication of final data.
Concerning material input statistics (including energetic input), as the cut off survey design allows to keep survey units quite constant, data for reference period t-1 is revised at the same time data processing for reference period t is done.
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)?
Depending on the energy product, data is provided by the ministry (BMK - in the case of oil), the regulator E-Control (natural gas and electricty production - differentiated for hydro, solar, wind...) or calculated based on consumption side information from surveys in consideration of foreign trade and stock flows.
18.1.2. Which are the main data sources you employ for supply of energy products (e.g. electricity, refinery products etc.)?
Same data sources as in 18.1.1.
18.1.3. Which are the main data sources you employ for the transformation use by energy transforming entities (NACE 2-digit divisions)?
Data on plant level from the regulator E-Control, material input statistics and short term statistics. Cross-checks with emission trading scheme data.
18.1.4. Which are the main data sources you employ for the end use by end user entities (including non-energy use)?
- Material input statistics for companies above a certain threshold in the industry sector,
- Survey on energy consumption in small and medium sized industries in the industry sector,
- Survey on energy consumption in the services sector,
- Survey in energy consumption of households,
- Modelling of agricultural end use,
- Useful enery anaylsis for differentiation of energy uses.
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?
No distribution key is necessary as these data come directly from surveys (incl. households) - see 18.1.4.
18.1.6. Do you use the PEFA builder? If yes: for populating the PEFA Tables, or for control only?
No.
18.1.7. Which data sources do you use to make adjustments for the residence principle?
- Transport statistics (information on tkm abroad and in total for road transport and navigation),
- Tourism statistics (information on number of travels),
- Statistics on commuting (information in people working abroad),
- Household survey on energy consumption (total km travelled),
- OECD database CO2 emissions from flights.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Energy consumption surveys (small and medium sized enterprises in the industry sector, services sector, households) are conducted biennially.
Material input statistics, useful energy analysis, transport, tourism statistics, data on commuting are available on an annual basis.
Data from the ministry (BMK) and the regulator E-Control are available on a monthly to annual basis, depending on the data set.
18.3. Data collection
- Online surveys: Energy consumption in small and medium sized enterprises in the industry sectors, services sector survey on energy consumption.
- CATI/CAWI: energy consumption in households. A detailed documentation and training for interviewers is provided.
- E-Mail: Useful energy analysis.
All of these are based on representative samples. These surveys are data sources for energy statistics as well as for PEFA (not only for energy statistics). More information can be found in the quality report on energy statistics (Energy statistics - quantities (nrg_quant)) - see extract below.
Name of the national data collection
Additional techniques used for the compilation of the final data set
Details
Energy consumptions of households
Imputing missing/non-response rate
Not available.
Estimation techniques
Cross-checking techniques
Grossing up the sample
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Energy consumptions in the service sector
Imputing missing/non-response rate
Not available.
Estimation techniques
Conversion factors used at national level
Grossing up the sample
Outliers are aligned or streamlined
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Energy consumption of small to medium sized industries
Imputing missing/non-response rate
Not available.
Estimation techniques
Conversion factors used at national level
Grossing up the sample
Outliers are aligned or streamlined
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Useful energy analysis in industries
Weighting values
Not available.
Imputing missing/non-response rate
Cross-checking techniques
Conversion factors used at national level
Grossing up the sample
Outliers are aligned or streamlined
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Monthly electricity statistics
Confidentiality techniques
Not available.
Imputing missing/non-response rate
Estimation techniques
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Monthly natural gas statistics
Confidentiality techniques
Not available.
Imputing missing/non-response rate
Estimation techniques
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Monthly Oil Statistics
Confidentiality techniques
Not available.
Estimation techniques
Cross-checking techniques
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Reserves of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products
Confidentiality techniques
Not available.
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Direct reporting by companies
Confidentiality techniques
Not available.
Conversion factors used at national level
Outliers are aligned or streamlined
Other
Emission trading scheme (ETS)
Confidentiality techniques
Not available.
Imputing missing/non-response rate
Incorrect data is adjusted or corrected
Short term statistics in industry and construction
See Quality report on energy statistics (Energy statistics - quantities (nrg_quant)):
Name of the national data source
Collection method
Acquisition process
Checks applied
Energy consumptions of households
Sample survey
Directly surveyed by energy statistics team
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Energy consumptions in the service sector
Sample survey
Directly surveyed by energy statistics team
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Energy consumption of small to medium sized industries
Sample survey
Directly surveyed by energy statistics team
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Useful energy analysis in industries
Sample survey
Directly surveyed by energy statistics team
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Monthly electricity statistics
Survey
Supplied by E-Control
Time series checks
Monthly natural gas statistics
Survey
Supplied by E-Control
Time series checks
Monthly oil Statistics
Survey
Supplied by BMK
Time series checks
Reserves of crude oil and petroleum products
Survey
Supplied by BMK
Time series checks
Direct reporting by companies
Survey
Directly surveyed by energy statistics team
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Emission trading scheme (ETS)
Administrative data
Supplied by Environment Agency Austria (UBA)
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Short term statistics in industry and construction
Survey
Supplied by business statistics division of Statistics Austria
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
International trade in goods statistics
Survey
Supplied by business statistics division of Statistics Austria
Cross check with consumption data/external data.
Material input statistics (including energetic input)
Survey
Supplied by business statistics division of Statistics Austria
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks, cross checks and contact to repondents.
18.5. Data compilation
See Quality report on energy statistics (Energy statistics - quantities (nrg_quant)):
Name of the national data collection
Operations performed to this collection in order to improve data quality(e.g. checks between monthly, quarterly and annual, verification of time series, investigation of outliers…)
Energy consumptions of households
verification of time series, investigation of outliers, plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators.
Energy consumptions in the service sector
verification of time series, investigation of outliers, plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators.
Energy consumption of small to medium sized industries
verification of time series, investigation of outliers, plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators.
Useful energy analysis in industries
verification of time series, investigation of outliers, plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators.
Monthly electricity statistics
Time series checks.
Monthly natural gas statistics
Time series checks.
Monthly oil Statistics
Summary checks to guarantee the data consistency. Checks if there are unusual divergences to average/expected data. Time series checks.
Reserves of crude oil and petroleum products
Time series checks.
Direct reporting by companies
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Emission trading scheme (ETS)
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Short term statistics in industry and construction
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
International trade in goods statistics
Monthly/Regular checks on: outliers; CN and country misclassification; additional checks on sensible products, countries and economic operators; comparisons with external data sources; analyses on product relations (unit value, unit net mass, net mass value)
Material input statistics (including energetic input)
Checks between monthly production statistics and annual structural business statistics as well as checks with foreign trade statistics (especially imports on detailled product category);
investigation of unplausible data via keeping contact to the respondents
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?
Yes. Needs to be checked.
18.5.3. Which method do you use for the allocation of road transport energy use to NACE industries and households?
Information is coming from energy consumption surveys. These surveys collect data on transport per NACE industries and households. No allocation method necessary.
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)?
Information is coming from energy consumption survey in the services sector. This survey collects data on energy consumption in service industries on NACE 2-digit level. No other allocation method required.
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)?
Data from energy balances enters the PEFA directly.
Apart from that, data from the energy balances enter the national greenhouse gas inventory, which is then used in the AEA (and adapted to match the residence principle).
Consistency is thus given by using the same data source (directly or indirectly) and by adapating the two statistics (PEFA and AEA) consistently to the residence principle.
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 reference area is Austria although the PEFA are based on the residence principle and therefore show the energy use of the residents of Austria, irrespective of the place where the use of energy takes place.
The data refer to the calendar year.
Assessment for underlying data sources:
Name of the national data collection
Most common errors for this collection
Energy consumptions of households
Sampling errors
Energy consumptions in the service sector
Measurement errors
Classification errors
Energy consumption of small to medium sized industries
Measurement errors
Useful energy analysis in industries
Measurement errors
Monthly electricity statistics
Not available.
Monthly natural gas statistics
Not available.
Monthly Oil Statistics
Not available.
Reserves of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products
Not available.
Direct reporting by companies
Not available.
Emission trading scheme (ETS)
Not available.
Short term statistics in industry and construction
Not available.
International Trade in Goods Statistics
Classification errors
Material Input Statistics (including energetic input)
Measurement errors
Classification errors
The unit of measure is terajoule (TJ).
See Quality report on energy statistics (Energy statistics - quantities (nrg_quant)):
Name of the national data collection
Operations performed to this collection in order to improve data quality(e.g. checks between monthly, quarterly and annual, verification of time series, investigation of outliers…)
Energy consumptions of households
verification of time series, investigation of outliers, plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators.
Energy consumptions in the service sector
verification of time series, investigation of outliers, plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators.
Energy consumption of small to medium sized industries
verification of time series, investigation of outliers, plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators.
Useful energy analysis in industries
verification of time series, investigation of outliers, plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators.
Monthly electricity statistics
Time series checks.
Monthly natural gas statistics
Time series checks.
Monthly oil Statistics
Summary checks to guarantee the data consistency. Checks if there are unusual divergences to average/expected data. Time series checks.
Reserves of crude oil and petroleum products
Time series checks.
Direct reporting by companies
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Emission trading scheme (ETS)
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
Short term statistics in industry and construction
Plausibility checks using energy consumption indicators and time series checks.
International trade in goods statistics
Monthly/Regular checks on: outliers; CN and country misclassification; additional checks on sensible products, countries and economic operators; comparisons with external data sources; analyses on product relations (unit value, unit net mass, net mass value)
Material input statistics (including energetic input)
Checks between monthly production statistics and annual structural business statistics as well as checks with foreign trade statistics (especially imports on detailled product category);
investigation of unplausible data via keeping contact to the respondents
Data sources used to produce physical energy flow accounts are described in the following sub-concepts.
The PEFA are published annually at the end of September. On national level, the data are published on the homepage of Statistics Austria.
t+21. National publication is also done at t+21, at the same time as reporting to Eurostat.
Data on PEFA are compiled according to international guidelines and are insofar comparable.
