An Assessment of the Sustainability of Electricity Consumption among European Countries. A Multistage Network Data Envelopment Analysis

The demand side of the energy system has been a prominent focus in energy and environmental policy. For years, OR applications in the Data Envelopment Analysis literature have been used to provide decision support for policy. However, previous assessments have mostly focused on examining sustainability dimensions separately. In this paper, we propose an extension to the current eco-efficiency, social development assessment, and environmental performance literature. Our approach involves a concurrent assessment that reveals the interrelationships and complementarities between these assessments in the policy. This way, we can demonstrate that decisions made regarding economic development have implications for social development, environmental performance, and electricity generation. We also propose novel approaches for social and environmental performance assessments to examine the impact of electricity consumption on human development and environmental systems. Our assessment provides a framework for examining how energy can be used for both economic and social purposes while minimizing its impact on the environment.