Abstract :
Energy analysis, data and research are reviewed. Methods to determine the energy required to maintain the structures of industrial organizations are described. Results for six organizations reconfirm earlier findings: (i) there are diseconomies of scale, i.e. smaller firms are more energy efficient (in Btu/employee-year) in maintaining structure than are larger firms; (ii) private-sector firms are more energy efficient than public firms; (iii) service-producing firms are more energy efficient than goods-producing firms; (iv) a public-sector service-provider spent its dollars on goods and services that required more energy (Btu/$) than any of the other five firms. The ratio of total energy used or controlled by each organization to energy needed to maintain structure (TE/SE) is a measure of environmental impact.
