The energy framework also distinguishes fuel types and economic sectors. The outlined framework is nothing new, but the idea to use it as a framework for linking a set of sustainable development indicators is new.
Although it appears rather crude, it has some specific advantages. First, since most of the commonly cited sustainability issues have links to energy use, they can be represented in the energy system.
Thus, the selected energy-based indicator set can cover most relevant sustainability issues.
This contrasts with economic or environmental models, where not all sustainability spheres can be described adequately. Even though, economic models may cover well economic and to a lesser extend also social issues, they are hardly useful for describing environmental issues like climate change.
Second, the energy framework is based purely on physical units.
This simplifies the formal modelling of the framework; interdependences and interactions between components or the selected indicators can be modelled and consistent future estimates can be developed.
Moreover, the comparison of different demand and distribution scenarios enables the evaluation of different development
paths and reveals possible trade-offs between sustainability goals (e.g. between intensified economic growth and the stabilization of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions).
On the other hand, the confinement to physical units also has some shortcomings. Some important social values like community integrity, identity, freedom, happiness, security, gender equality and self-respect are non-physical and therefore cannot be described within an energy-based framework.
Moreover, also some relevant environmental issues such as biodiversity are not measurable with energy indicators. However, the ambition here is not to cover and measure everything with energy indicators, but to map a small set of selected issues of paramount importance.