Primary energy

Primary energy (PE) is the energy found in nature that has not been subjected to any human engineered conversion process. It encompasses energy contained in raw fuels and other forms of energy, including waste, received as input to a system. Primary energy can be non-renewable or renewable.

Total primary energy supply (TPES) is the sum of production and imports, plus or minus stock changes, minus exports and international bunker storage.^[3] The International Recommendations for Energy Statistics (IRES) prefers total energy supply (TES) to refer to this indicator.^[4] These expressions are often used to describe the total energy supply of a national territory.

Secondary energy is a carrier of energy, such as electricity. These are produced by conversion from a primary energy source.

Primary energy is used as a measure in energy statistics in the compilation of energy balances,^[5] as well as in the field of energetics. In energetics, a primary energy source (PES) refers to the energy forms required by the energy sector to generate the supply of energy carriers used by human society.^[6] Primary energy only counts raw energy and not usable energy and fails to account well for energy losses, particularly the large losses in thermal sources. It therefore generally grossly overcounts the usefulness of thermal renewable energy sources and by comparison undercounts sources like renewables that produce secondary energy.