
Energy intensity is the ratio of energy input per unit of economic output, or the amount of energy used to produce a dollar’s worth of goods and services. This measures the energy efficiency of the state's economy.
From 1997 to 2010, the State's gross state product (GSP) increased 32 percent from $60,252 million to $79,674 million, while Nebraska's overall energy consumption grew 30.2 percent from 647.9 trillion British thermal units (Btu) in 1997 to 843.8 trillion Btu in 2010.
A 30.2–percent increase in Nebraska's total energy consumption resulted in a decrease in energy intensity of 2 percent and a 32–percent increase of the GSP. In other words, despite an increase in energy consumption, Nebraska experienced a larger increase in the production of real value in goods and services. This indicates that Nebraskans are using energy more efficiently.
Another measure of energy consumption intensity is reported in Total Energy Consumption Per Capita. An explanation of energy intensity indicators is in the report Energy Intensity Indicators.

| Year | Nebraska's Total Energy Consumption [Thousand British thermal units (Btu)] |
Nebraska's Total Gross State Product [Million Chained (2005) Dollars] |
Nebraska's Energy Consumption per Dollar of Gross State Product [Thousand Btu per Chained (2005) Dollar] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 647,948,000,000 | $60,252 | 10.7 |
| 1998 | 664,477,000,000 | $60,643 | 10.9 |
| 1999 | 654,638,000,000 | $62,261 | 10.5 |
| 2000 | 656,346,000,000 | $65,155 | 10.0 |
| 2001 | 653,280,000,000 | $65,916 | 9.9 |
| 2002 | 669,223,000,000 | $66,453 | 10.0 |
| 2003 | 673,139,000,000 | $70,082 | 9.6 |
| 2004 | 688,878,000,000 | $71,064 | 9.6 |
| 2005 | 698,389,000,000 | $72,504 | 9.6 |
| 2006 | 716,708,000,000 | $74,464 | 9.6 |
| 2007 | 766,329,000,000 | $77,060 | 9.9 |
| 2008 | 805,748,000,000 | $77,677 | 10.3 |
| 2009 | 779,381,000,000 | $78,179 | 9.9 |
| 2010 | 843,793,000,000 | $79,674 | 10.5 |
Sources: State Energy Data Report. Energy Information Administration, Washington, DC. Nebraska Energy Office, Lincoln, NE.
Notes: NA indicates data is not available.
Current versus chained dollars
Current dollars reflect values for the year of the measurement and do not take into account inflationary price changes or component changes over time. Current dollar gross state product levels from one year should not be compared to the levels from other years, so for this comparison over time, chained–dollar GSP levels are used.
Change in industry definitions
There is a discontinuity in the "gross domestic product by state" or GSP time series at the year 1997, when the data changed from Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) industry definitions to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industry definitions. Since the Bureau of Economic Analysis strongly advises against appending the two data series in an attempt to construct a single time series of gross state product for 1963 to 2006, the data in this report cover the time period from only 1997 to 2010.
The table and graph were updated on April 23, 2013.
Typically, there are one to two years between updates.