Manufacturing industry using the most energy

Manufacturing industry using the most energy in industrial and trade sector

17 October 2017

The manufacturing industry was the largest user of total energy in the year ended March 2017, Stats NZ said today. This industry accounted for 49 percent of total energy use, compared with 62 percent in 2012.

"The manufacturing industry includes a wide range of sub-industries, such as printing, furniture, and food manufacturing," business performance senior manager Daria Kwon said. "We’ve seen that manufacturing has consistently been the largest user of energy."

The transport, postal, and warehousing industry had the largest increase in total energy use, up from 53,568 TJ in 2012 to 85,423 TJ in 2017.

Diesel the most-used fuel type in 2017

Diesel was the most-used fuel type in the sector in 2017, accounting for 27 percent of total energy use. The industrial and trade sector used 2.3 billion litres of diesel in 2017, up 36 percent from 1.7 billion litres in 2012.

The transport, postal, and warehousing industry accounted for 53 percent (1.2 billion litres) of the sector’s total diesel use in 2017. Using an average diesel vehicle that runs on 8.1 litres per 100km, this equates to enough diesel to drive the distance to Pluto and back.

In 2017, the construction industry used 608 million litres of diesel, accounting for 81 percent of the industry’s total energy use, up from 70 percent in 2012.

“Energy use in the construction industry has increased 64 percent since 2009, which is explained by the growth we have seen in construction activities,” Ms Kwon said.

The construction industry was the main contributor to off-road diesel use in the industrial and trade sector in 2017, using 47 percent of the sector’s off-road diesel. Off-road diesel use includes vehicles and mobile machinery used off public roads (on construction sites, for example).

The fuel type categorised as ‘other’ (which includes coal, wood, and waste oil) decreased 14 percent from 2012 to 2017, partly offsetting the increases in diesel over the same time period.

Industrial and trade sector energy use increases 19 percent from 2012

In 2017, the industrial and trade sector used 325,570 terajoules (TJ) of energy. This increased 19 percent from 274,700 TJ in 2012. One terajoule of energy is equivalent to the energy held in 700 40-litre petrol tanks.

The Energy Use Survey collects information on energy use in the primary, industrial and trade, and service sectors, across a three-year cycle. The industrial and trade sector is the largest user of energy out of the three sectors, typically using more than double the other two sectors combined.

These figures come from the 2017 Energy Use Survey. For more information, see New Zealand Energy Use: 2017.

For more information about these statistics:

• Visit New Zealand Energy Use: 2017

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