Are Services Better for Climate Change? VOL. 40, NO. 21, 2006 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Including emissions from the entire supply-chain network led to only minor changes in the ranking of the most GHG emission intensive products

Compared with Figure 2, distribution has shifted upward in Figure 5 as supply-chain GHG emissions are added to direct emissions. Furthermore, the distribution is denser in Figure 5 than in Figure 2.However, while the plots for the primary and tertiary sectors asymptoticallyapproach the secondary sector, they do not generally overlap. Another interesting observation is that the plots for the primary and secondary sectors have undergone a shift to the lower left,while this is not generally the case for the tertiary sector.

services act as an interface between primary and secondary products and household consumers. This explain show the plots in Figure 5 approach one another only asymptotically. As tertiary sector services rely on input of primary and secondary products, their total direct and indirect GHG emission intensities increase substantially when supply chains are taken into account. However, these intensities do not exceed those of the inputs, as additional value-added is created, “diluting” overall intensities per dollar

some products and services listed in Table 4 do not have high GHG emission intensities. The total direct and supply-chain GHG emission intensity of “motor vehicles and passenger cars”, for instance, is 1.08 kg CO2 equiv, only slightly higher than the average, indicating in turn the high consumption volume of these products and services.

motor vehicles and passenger cars blast furnaces and steel mills” (15.8%), various organic and inorganic chemical processes (10.8%) various mining (5.1%) electric utility(21.4%), and so on. Hospitals electric utility” (37.0%) “sanitary servicesand steam supply(7.7%), various agricultural products(4.5%) crude petroleum and natural gas(3.8%) Blast furnaces and steel mills” (3.0%) air transportation” (2.8%), and so on

Conclusion Although the GHG emission intensities of services are, by their very nature, lower than those of other sectors, aggregate GHG emissions in absolute terms will not be automatically reduced merely by engendering a structural shift toward a more service-oriented economy if the same or higher material welfare is to be maintained