I know many renewable / electrification advocates get fired up about people that use primary energy. As a carbon person, I get fired up about people that don't understand why primary energy is used. I will die on this hill.

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There are ambiguities in how you define primary energy for non-fossil sources. There are several alternatives. However, once you select one & use it consistently in your analysis, it is not a problem. It analogous to a change in units. It is ok to change units, as long as you don't mix them.

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We also look at ratios like CO2/PE, but you can also look at CO2/FE = CO2/PE * PE/FE, and trace how PE/FE over time. In short, if you want to understand CO2 and energy, you can't just zoom into useful or final energy. You have to look at how it all fits together.

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Primary energy is where the coal, oil, & gas is burnt. We know quite well how much carbon is in coal, oil, & gas. If you want to estimate emissions, you want to work in primary energy. If you like, you can use energy statistics to remap CO2 to final or useful energy (just like IEA did for energy)

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A nice figure from the IEA showing the flows from primary, to final, to useful energy. This is where people get all fired up about these stupid organisations / people that use primary energy. Well, let me explain why people like me use primary energy... www.iea.org/reports/elec...

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