Spatial Distribution of U.S. Household Carbon Footprints Reveals Suburbanization Undermines Greenhouse Gas Benefits of Urban Population Density
Open accessAbstract
Which municipalities and locations within the United States contribute the most to household greenhouse gas emissions, and what is the effect of population density and suburbanization on emissions? Using national household surveys, we developed econometric models of demand for energy, transportation, food, goods, and services that were used to derive average household carbon footprints (HCF) for U.S. zip codes, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas. We find consistently lower HCF in urban core cities (∼ 40 tCO2e) and higher carbon footprints in outlying suburbs (∼ 50 tCO2e), with a range from ∼ 25 to >80 tCO2e in the 50 largest metropolitan areas. Population density exhibits a weak but positive correlation with HCF until a density threshold is met, after which range, mean, and standard deviation of HCF decline. While population density contributes to relatively low HCF in the central cities of large metropolitan areas, the more extensive suburbanization in these regions contributes to an overall net increase in HCF compared to smaller metropolitan areas. Suburbs alone account for ∼ 50% of total U.S. HCF. Differences in the size, composition, and location of household carbon footprints suggest the need for tailoring of greenhouse gas mitigation efforts to different populations.
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These predictions can be used to tailor customized interventions for high-emissions households.
“These predictions can be used to tailor customized interventions for highemissions households [398].”
From Tackling climate change with machine learning (2023) · cites this paper as [398]
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- Authors
- Jones, C., & Kammen, D. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Corresponding author
- Jones, Christopher
- Kammen, Daniel M.
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2014-01-02
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 895-902
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2090322439
- Cited by
- 498
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 41 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 47 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 46 · 2017: 41 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 8
- FWCI
- 15.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- escholarship.org
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (SMA-1338539)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Environmental Impact and Sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Energy, Environment, Economic Growth
- Keywords
- household carbon footprint, suburbanization, population density, urban density, greenhouse gas emissions, spatial distribution of emissions, metropolitan areas, energy demand, transport emissions, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, United States
- MeSH terms
- Cities, Electricity, Family Characteristics, Gases, Gasoline, Humans, Population, Population Density, Suburban Population, United States, Urban Population, Greenhouse Effect, Carbon Footprint, Natural Gas
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