The dynamics of industrial energy consumption in Latin America and their implications for sustainable development

Abstract

This article analyses the relationship between energy consumptionin industry and industrial productivity and the implications of this forsustainable development. To this end, it presents a matrix characterizingeconomies as: (i); converging or diverging in terms of energy consumptionper unit of value added, and (ii); catching up with or falling further behindthe productivity level of the international frontier (the United States);. On thebasis of data from the industrial surveys of four Latin American countries(Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico);, it concludes that the region's evidentspecialization in natural resource-intensive sectors has contributed to apattern of high energy consumption and slow productivity growth, andthat while there is no productive convergence, there is evidence of energysustainability in three of the four countries analysed.