Reports
Discussion Papers
No.593 Consumption-based Accounting of U.S. CO2 Emissions from 1990 to 2010
by Klaus HUBACEK
March 2016
ABSTRACT
To
tackle
global
climate
change,
it
is
desirable
to
reduce
CO
2
emissions
associated
with
household
consumption
in
particular
in
developed
countries,
which
tend
to
have
much
higher
per
capita
household
carbon
footprints
than
less
developed
countries.
Our
results
show
that
carbon
intensity
of
different
consumption
categories
in
the
U.S.
varies
significantly.
The
carbon
footprint
tends
to
increase
with
increasing
income
but
at
a
decreasing
rate
due
to
additional
income
being
spent
on
less
carbon
intensive
consumption
items.
This
general
tendency
is
frequently
compensated
by
higher
frequency
of
international
trips
and
higher
housing
related
carbon
emissions
(larger
houses
and
more
space
for
consumption
items).
Our
results
also
show
that
more
than
30%
of
CO
2
emissions
associated
with
household
consumption
in
the
U.S.
occur
outside
of
the
U.S.
Given
these
facts,
the
design
of
carbon
mitigation
policies
should
take
changing
household
consumption
patterns
and
international
trade
into
account.
Keywords:
CO
2
emissions,
household
consumption,
income
group,
carbon
intensity
JEL
classification:
E01,
F18;
C67;
F64,
H23
Please note that discussion papers are works in various stages of progress and most have not been edited and proofread and may contain errors of fact or judgment. Revised versions of these papers may subsequently appear in more formal publication series. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s). The IDE does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included and accepts no responsibility for any consequences arising from its use.