Indirect and Direct Energy Requirements of City Households in Sweden: Options for Reduction, Lessons from Modeling

Abstract

Summary The objective of this article is to explore the potential for lowering household energy use given existing local support systems, in this case in the Stockholm inner city with the aid of the Dutch energy analysis program (EAP) that was adapted to Swedish conditions and that portrays total energy use for 300 consumption categories. Previously such modeling for Sweden was carried out using only Dutch databases. Our case‐study area is well equipped with food stores, local markets, public transportation, and entertainment, facilitating some energy‐efficient consumption choices. With maintained expenditure levels but changed consumption patterns, current reduction potentials are on the order of 10–20%. Options concerning diet can lower food indirect energy use by up to 30%, whereas options in other areas have a lower potential. Further reductions will require enhanced local support systems, external as well as internal. The results indicate that it is risky not to use nationally adapted figures for energy efficiency in the production sectors when modeling household energy use, because potential for change may be overlooked. Future work should include foreign energy intensities when modeling imported goods; otherwise, results may be less reliable. The Swedish EAP needs further work before it can be put to use as a modeling tool for everyday behavior, but it is already generating important possibilities for producing reliable data that can be used by local energy counselors.

The rebound effects of switching to vegetarianism. A microeconomic analysis of Swedish consumption behavior

“…An overview of the current research provides strong evidence that shifting food consumption patterns toward a less meat-heavy diet can have potential positive effects on individual carbon balances and other environmental impacts such as land, water, fossil fuel and chemical input use (Goodland 1997;Dutilh & Kramer 2000;Tukker et al 2011;Carlsson-Kanyama 1998;Carlsson-Kanyama et al 2005). Studies have shown, for instance, that the livestock sector contributes as much as 18% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (Steinfeld et al 2006), that animal-based ingredients have ten times higher energy requirements than plant-based ones (Dutilh & Kramer 2000), and that the difference between an affluent, meat-heavy diet and a vegetarian one ranges between a threefold and eightfold higher need for land (Gerbens-Leenes et al 2002).…”

“…The greatest re-spending categories are, in order of magnitude, travel, recreation, food, clothes, and housing. Carlsson-Kanyama et al (2005), on the other hand, find even greater environmental savings than anticipated from a shift to an energy-efficient diet; but this is mainly due to their assumption that 'green' consumers will purchase organic products and incur larger costs than in the original scenario.…”

Deleterious Emission Abatement through Structured Energy Use Pattern: A North Central Nigeria Perspective

“…Some of the measures adopted by most developed countries include energy use minimization and optimization. Another explored option is renewable energy usage [22], [23]. Regardless of the global threat posed by this phenomenon, Nigerians and the Nigerian government is focused mainly on energy generation, neglecting the aspect of efficient energy utilization by the end users even with the glaring environmental consequences.…”

Economic structure and energy savings from energy efficiency in households

“…cost per cloth load of a washing machine). Along these lines, some authors have considered the effects from the respending of the additional disposable income within the so-called rebound effect framework (Jalas, 2002;Carlsson-Kanyama et al, 2005;Cohen et al, 2005;Takase et al, 2005;Mizobuchi, K., 2008, Nässén andHolmberg, 2009;Druckman et al, 2010;Thomas, 2011;Saunders and Tsao, 2012; Thomas and Azevedo, 2013a;Thomas and Azevedo, 2013b;Chitnis et al, 2013;Yu et al, 2013;.…”