The Characteristics and Driving Factors of Household Co2 and Non-Co2 Emissions in China

Abstract

Approximately 60% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributable to household consumption, which represents great opportunity to mitigate them. However, most research has focused only on CO2 emissions, and pays limited attention to non-CO2, which accounts for a quarter of household emissions. In this paper, we investigate key characteristics of and driving factors behind Chinese household emissions, which includes CO2, CH4, N2O, and F-gases. Our work also combines detailed household survey data, GHG inventory, and input-output tables. The empirical results suggest that household GHG emissions per capita in 2015 were 2.74 tCO2eq, of which non-CO2 gases accounted for 27%, mainly from food (48%) and dwelling-related consumption (18%). Urban households emit 4.02 tCO2eq per capita—nearly twice that of rural households—and have a higher rate of non-CO2 emissions. The consumption expenditure is the main driver for emissions differences between rural and urban households, while consumption structure only plays a minor role. The reduction in CO2 emissions from urban homes switching from coal to natural gas is offset by an increase in CH4 emissions from gas production and supply. Our findings highlight the significance of non-CO2 emissions for consideration in policy-making, as well as the important potential of adjusting households’ consumption structure.

Keywords: Household emissions (HHEs), Non-CO2, Input-Output (IO) Analysis, Index Decomposition, China