title: Urban household carbon emission and contributing factors in the Yangtze River Delta, China.
abstract: Carbon reduction at the household level is an integral part of carbon mitigation. This study analyses the characteristics, effects, contributing factors and policies for urban household carbon emissions in the Yangtze River Delta of China. Primary data was collected through structured questionnaire surveys in three cities in the region--Nanjing, Ningbo, and Changzhou in 2011. The survey data was first used to estimate the magnitude of household carbon emissions in different urban contexts. It then examined how, and to what extent, each set of demographic, economic, behavioral/cognitive and spatial factors influence carbon emissions at the household level. The average of urban household carbon emissions in the region was estimated to be 5.96 tonnes CO2 in 2010. Energy consumption, daily commuting, garbage disposal and long-distance travel accounted for 51.2%, 21.3%, 16.0% and 11.5% of the total emission, respectively. Regulating rapidly growing car-holdings of urban households, stabilizing population growth, and transiting residents' low-carbon awareness to household behavior in energy saving and other spheres of consumption in the context of rapid population aging and the growing middle income class are suggested as critical measures for carbon mitigation among urban households in the Yangtze River Delta.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xibao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, Environment and Population, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Guishan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Watershed Geographic Sciences, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Weizhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005191:Family Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012044:Regression Analysis; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014186:Transportation
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002244:Carbon