A Comparative Index for Measuring Energy Transition in Developed and Emerging Economies Under Structural Asymmetries

This study develops two independent energy transition indices, the Global North energy transition index (GNETI) and the Global South energy transition index (GSETI), using principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate energy transition performance during the period 2013–2022. Each index was calculated independently using a balanced panel of 70 observations, corresponding to 7 countries observed over 10 years. The Global North sample includes Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States; while the Global South sample includes India, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia, and Ghana. For the Global North, PCA results show that PC1 explains 59.68% of the total variance, while PC2 and PC3 describe 21.10% and 17.42% of the total variance, respectively. The first two components account for 80.78% of the total variance, while the first three components explain 98.20%, confirming the robustness of the index structure. The 2022 GNETI values indicate that Sweden has the highest performance (100.00), followed by Denmark (71.01), Canada (66.50), the United Kingdom (40.51), Germany (36.46), the United States (34.45), and Japan (11.86). The PCA results show that PC1, PC2, and PC3 explain 58.76%, 21.99%, and 9.63%, respectively, of the total variance. The cumulative variance described confirms the adequacy of the PCA approach for constructing the GSETI. In 2022, the highest GSETI values were observed in Ghana (90.39), Colombia (85.06), Brazil (70.98), India (59.00), Indonesia (52.97), Mexico (47.72), and South Africa (18.70). The findings indicate significant regional differences in the pathways of energy transition, based on variability in technological capability, renewable energy uptake and resources, energy security levels, and the fundamental structure of state energy systems.