Household Behavior Selections under CO₂Emission Constraint

Abstract

Reducing human-caused CO 2 emissions to acceptable levels must become a global objective of our modern society. One way to meet this objective is to introduce a constraint on household annual CO 2 emission (HACO 2 ). However, behaviors that reduce CO 2 emissions, may appear too expensive, or to worsen living conditions. Although the goal of controlling CO 2 emissions is widely accepted, in practice it is not easy to reduce energy consumption. This paper develops a CO 2 emission trading scheme (CETS) framework for households based on the defi nition HACO 2 . In this study, a city's CO 2 emission is assumed to be the sum of all HACO 2 . The CO 2 constraint for a single household is determined by the city's total CO 2 emission reduction target. Multi-agent simulator is applied to clarify household behavior-selections under such constraint, and to fi nd the effects of total CO 2 emission within the urban model. Simulations are performed with CETS (Case 1) and without CETS (Case 2). Results indicate 1) Under a CO 2 constraint, agents choose behaviors to meet the HACO 2 constraint. Total CO 2 emissions within the urban model decrease toward the pre-determined reduction target. 2) The CETS framework for household level is proved not only costeffi cient but also promotes the process of reducing CO 2 emissions. 3) An agent that acts for self-benefi t will not consider the completeness of the total target. As a result, the reduction target within the urban model is never achieved even with the implementation of CETS.

An Evaluation of CO2 Emission Reduction based on the Supply of Condominiums in Central Kyoto

“…Therefore, the HACO 2 of a household in this city is the sum of the dwelling's CO 2 emissions during its life cycle (LCCO 2 ), the CO 2 emissions from one year of personal trips to the urban center (CTCO 2 ), and the CO 2 emissions from one year of power consumption (ELCO 2 ). This HACO 2 can be expressed as (Tang et al, 2005 andTang, Munemoto 2007):…”