The carbon footprint of household energy use in the United States

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Benjamin GoldsteinJoshua P Newell

Abstract

Residential energy use accounts for roughly 20% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States. Using data on 93 million individual households, we estimate these GHGs across the contiguous United States and clarify the respective influence of climate, affluence, energy infrastructure, urban form, and building attributes (age, housing type, heating fuel) in driving these emissions. A ranking by state reveals that GHGs (per unit floor space) are lowest in Western US states and highest in Central states. Wealthier Americans have per capita footprints ∼25% higher than those of lower-income residents, primarily due to larger homes. In especially affluent suburbs, these emissions can be 15 times higher than nearby neighborhoods. If the electrical grid is decarbonized, then the residential housing sector can meet the 28% emission reduction target for 2025 under the Paris Agreement. However, grid decarbonization will be insufficient to meet the 80% emissions reduction target for 2050 due to a growing housing stock and continued use of fossil fuels (natural gas, propane, and fuel oil) in homes. Meeting this target will also require deep energy retrofits and transitioning to distributed low-carbon energy sources, as well as reduc...Continue Reading

References

Feb 12, 2010·Nature·Richard H MossThomas J Wilbanks
Apr 1, 2011·Environmental Science & Technology·Christopher M Jones, Daniel M Kammen
Aug 16, 2012·Environmental Science & Technology·Kevin R GurneyMichel Abdul-Massih
Feb 13, 2013·Environmental Science & Technology·Inês Lima AzevedoLester B Lave
Jan 11, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Burak GüneralpKaren C Seto
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Aug 8, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Will SteffenHans Joachim Schellnhuber

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Citations

Jan 30, 2021·Environmental Science & Technology·Peter BerrillEdgar G Hertwich
Mar 12, 2021·Chemistry : a European Journal·Jennifer A Rudd
Mar 28, 2021·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Hazrat YousafMuhammad Akbar
Jun 15, 2021·Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences·Fatimah Alshehrei, Fuad Ameen
Aug 22, 2021·Science Advances·Kenneth T GillinghamDrew R Gentner

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