International Energy Agency (IEA) has since 1997 developed a series of energy indicators to study energy-use developments and analyze factors behind changes in energy use and CO2 emissions. Energy indicators (and the underlying databases) reveal key relationships between energy use, energy prices and economic activity. This insight is crucial when assessing and monitoring past and present energy policies, and for designing effective future action.

The idea for Low Carbon Model Towns began in June 2010, when an APEC task force was created to explore the concept. Later that year, the APEC development strategy to build a low carbon society, promote low carbon
policy, and to develop low carbon industry was officially established. This has had significant impacts in many of the Low Carbon demonstration projects, including the Tianjin Yujiapu Financial District in China, Koh Samui Island in Thailand, which were developed with APEC’s Low Carbon model in mind.

This is the final report from the APEC Energy Working Group project to establish a set of universal low carbon energy indicators for analysis of Low Carbon Model Towns. These indicators will be used to effectively assess the progress of low carbon energy development and guide future developments in low carbon towns. The study utilized case studies from China, Malaysia, and Thailand. The core parameters for evaluating the potential indicators from each country required each indicator must have:

• Scientific and practical measurement methods for simplicity of usage and consistency of application,
• Combined usage of qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure economic, energy, emissions, and policy implications,
• Data available in all three countries to allow for comparative study

The basic indicators that were established using these parameters included:

1. Emission Intensity (CO2 emissions per unit of GDP)
2. Emission Density (CO2 emissions per unit of land)
3. Industrial Ratio in Total Energy Consumption
4. Energy Supply Composition (including Nuclear Gas Composition Ratios, Nuclear Power Composition Ratios, and Renewable Energy Composition Ratios)
5. Industrial Energy Consumption (per unit of industrial added-value)
6. Energy Consumption of Public Buildings (compared to the number of employees of the
7. tertiary industry)
8. Energy Consumption of Residential Buildings (per household)
9. Energy Consumption by Road Transportation (per unit of land area)
10. Policies and Planning for Low Carbon Development
11. Statistical and Monitoring Systems for Carbon Emissions
12. Low Carbon Town Practices

These indicators were then applied against the three selected case studies to assess the state of energy usage within the case study town to complete a comparison of the three case studies and develop a series of suggestions for each town to meet its’ low carbon goals.