DRAFT VERSION: Do not distribute or cite without permission of the authors 1 Energy use and economic development: A comparative analysis of useful work supply in Austria, Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA during 100 years of economic growth. Authors: Robert Ayres, Nina Eisenmenger, Fridolin Krausmann, Heinz Schandl and Benjamin Warr To be presented at the Monte Verità Conference on Sustainable Resource Use and Economic Dynamics – SURED 2008, Ascona/Switzerland June 2-5, 2008 DRAFT VERSION: Do not distribute or cite without permission of the authors Abstract This paper investigates the energy transition and the relation of energy and economic growth on the basis of a comparable long term historical dataset for four national case studies. It analyses data on the development of energy use and the consumption of energy services during 100 years of industrialization in Austria, Japan, the United Kingdom and the USA. All four countries appear as fully industrialized countries today, but were at different stages of industrialization and the energy transition at the beginning of the 20 th century: In contrast to the advanced economies of the UK and the USA, Austria and Japan were late comers to industrialization but were rapidly catching up. The paper uses the exergy approach to assess changes in the energy system. Exergy is a quality measure of energy which quantifies the ability of energy to perform work. Not all thermodynamic work is useful, but useful work is the prerequisite for all energy services demanded by final consumers. The paper provides a comparative analysis of time series data covering the period 1900 to 2000 which include exergy inputs, useful work output, exergy-to-(useful) work conversion efficiency, carbon intensity and the exergy intensity of the economy. Based on this dataset it explores patterns of energy transition and the relation of useful work and economic growth during industrialization. From the comparative analysis we conclude that industrialization is characterized by a typical pattern of energy transition. Economic structure and per capita level of exergy inputs and useful work outputs as well as the exergy intensity of the economy develop in a very similar way in all four countries and lead to a common pattern in fully industrialized countries. Differences, however, can be observed between the countries with high and low population density. Our results further support the hypothesis, that economic growth and exergy (and in particular useful work) consumption are strongly linked and that economic growth requires an increase in available useful work. This raises a two fold concern: A reduction of the high level of exergy demand in industrial countries can only be accomplished by increasing the conversion efficiency of exergy inputs into useful work. Ultimately, however, the potential to