The construction of a comprehensive multidimensional energy index

Abstract Energy system is a crucial component of an economy. Measuring the performance and healthiness of energy system is very useful to decision makers. A well-designed energy index could serve such a purpose. Due to complexity of energy system in an economy, we have yet seen a widely accepted and comprehensive energy index in the literature. In this paper, we develop a comprehensive multidimensional energy index (CMEI) based on the harmonic average of multiple sub-indices. We show that CMEI possesses good analytical properties. Using the data from the United States and China, we demonstrate the applicability of CMEI and test some of its desirable properties. Our conclusion is that CMEI can be used in time-series and cross-regional diagnosis and comparison of energy systems and serves as a simple and handy tool for policy makers.