Comparative Energy Information Analytics of Five European Economies

Abstract

Real GDP per capita and energy consumption are often, but not always, correlated variables. Comparative analysis of their respective time series offers new insights and information and new decision-making metrics. During the Great Recession, Greece faced a sudden and dramatic decline in GDP and a prolonged debt crisis fueled by structural issues and severe austerity measures. While all other European economies rebound and experienced GDP growth Greece continued to decline. Energy consumption, however, declined across Europe regardless of GDP growth. Using comparative information analytics, trends are identified, underlying factors unfolded and conclusions are drawn on the energy behavior of Greece's economy as well as those of Germany, Italy, France and Bulgaria. © 2020 IEEE.