U.S. households could cut emissions sharply: study

David Morgan, Reuters 26 Oct 09;

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States could cut climate-changing carbon emissions significantly over the next decade by getting American households to take actions that require no new laws or regulations and no loss of well-being, a report said on Monday.

A research team led by Michigan State University estimated that 7.4 percent of current U.S. emissions -- slightly more than the total emissions of France -- could be eliminated in 10 years if U.S. households became energy-efficient by adopting available forms of technology, including more fuel-efficient cars and home heating systems.

The result could help buy time for the environment while the United States and other countries consider longer-term solutions to reduce carbon emissions such as the cap-and-trade strategy now being debated in the U.S. Congress.

The researchers identified 33 specific energy-saving actions ranging from weather-stripping of homes and using slow-flow shower heads to reducing laundry temperatures and driving at highway speeds of 55 mph and under.

The actions would appreciably reduce energy consumption and either cost little or offer attractive returns on investment without requiring changes in lifestyle.

But the study said comprehensive marketing efforts that combine mass media promotions, community-based information campaigns and informal social pressures with financial incentives would be required to induce enough American households to make the necessary changes.

PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN

It pointed to the Obama administration's "cash-for-clunkers" program as an example of a promotional campaign that can change behavior through marketing, financial incentives and consumer convenience. The rebate program resulted in the purchase of nearly 700,000 more fuel efficient cars and trucks.

"Our estimates ... provide a reasonable initial guide to what can be achieved by active promotion," the research team led by Thomas Dietz of Michigan State University wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Direct energy use by U.S. households, including nonbusiness travel, is a leading source of greenhouse gases and accounted for 690 millions tons (626 million metric tonnes) of carbon in 2005. That equals 38 percent of U.S. carbon emissions and 8 percent of global emissions -- more than the total emissions of any single country except China.

Dietz, who was joined by colleagues at the University of Michigan, Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and the U.S. National Research Council, said more energy-efficient habits could cut U.S. household emissions by 20 percent in 10 years.

That would be more than all U.S. emissions from the petroleum refining, iron and steel, and aluminum industries, which are among the largest industrial emitters.

The study said similar savings rates could be achieved in Canada and Australia, where carbon profiles are roughly equivalent to those of U.S. households.

The study sought to gauge the responsiveness of American households by looking at studies of behavioral changes that followed interventions on environmental and health topics.

Researchers also used state, city and community programs implemented in response to the energy crises of the 1970s as a basis for their national estimates.

(Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and Mohammad Zargham)

Simple U.S. lifestyle tweaks key in climate change fight: study
Yahoo News 26 Oct 09;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States could cut greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of France's total annual emissions by getting Americans to make simple lifestyle changes, like regularly maintaining their cars or insulating their attics, a study showed Monday.

If US households took 17 easy-to-implement actions -- like switching to a fuel-efficient vehicle, drying laundry on a clothesline instead of in a dryer, or turning down the thermostat -- carbon emissions could be cut by 123 metric tons a year by the 10th year, the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found.

"This amounts to... 7.4 percent of total national emissions -- an amount slightly larger than the total national emissions of France," showed the study led by Thomas Dietz of Michigan State University's department of sociology and environmental science and policy.

"It is greater than reducing to zero all emissions in the United States from the petroleum-refining, iron and steel, and aluminum industries, each of which is among the largest emitters in the industrial sector," the study said.

But the lifestyle changes come with a much smaller price tag and no great change to the way Americans live.

At present, US direct household energy use accounts for 38 percent of the country's carbon emissions, or 626 million metric tons of carbon -- a whopping eight percent of global emissions "and larger than the emissions of any entire country except China."

To quickly bring down those numbers, the researchers suggested greater focus on consumer behavioral changes and less on efforts to develop new technologies and put in place so-called cap and trade regimes.

The researchers grouped 17 actions Americans could take to reduce carbon emissions into five groups: weatherization, switching to more efficient equipment, maintaining equipment, adjusting appliance setting -- such as the temperature on water heaters -- and modifying daily personal use.

The action with the greatest potential to reduce US carbon emissions was the switch to a fuel-efficient vehicle. That alone would, according to the study's model, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by just over five percent by year 10, or by more than 31 million metric tons.

Weatherizing homes by improving attic insulation, sealing or replacing drafty windows and doors, could cut carbon emissions by 21 million metric tons.

Installing energy-efficient appliances to replace those that have reached the end of their useful life would save nearly 12 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

Even seemingly minor steps like not speeding away from a stop sign when driving, regularly maintaining one's car, or turning down the heating at home in the winter to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), could save between four and eight million metric tons in carbon emissions by year 10.

The lifestyle tweaks and positive results don't have to be limited to the United States, either.

Similar percentage reductions are possible in Canada and Australia, which have carbon profiles comparable to that of the United States, while Europe and Japan could save around half of the US level in percentage terms by getting their citizens to make the same changes, the study said.

Climate Change Begins at Home: Small Steps to Cut Greenhouse Emissions Can Lead to Big Results
A new study shows how household improvements, such as better insulation, could cut U.S. carbon emissions by more than 7 percent
David Biello Scientific American 26 Oct 09;

American homes and their energy consumption account for nearly 40 percent of U.S. emissions, 626 million metric tons of carbon in 2005 alone. But 33 simple actions—ranging from improving the insulation to carpooling—could cut those annual carbon emissions by 123 million metric tons. That savings would more than entirely offset emissions from petroleum refineries, iron and steel works, and aluminum smelters combined.

"We did a careful analysis of the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from changes in energy use by households. We did this by considering not only the hypothetical reduction that would occur if everyone undertook each action but by looking at what is behaviorally realistic," explains ecologist and sociologist Thomas Dietz of Michigan State University, one of the authors of the study laying out the possibilities in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "A substantial amount of energy use in U.S. households is wasted, and there have been successful programs to eliminate that waste."

Based on this analysis of potential emissions-cutting measures—as well as the success of programs to inspire them—weatherizing homes as well as properly maintaining heating and cooling systems could save more than 37 million metric tons of carbon. Boosting average fuel efficiency in 50 percent of cars from 20.8 miles per gallon to 30.7 mpg—and there are at least 26 vehicles available today that would do that, ranging from compact cars to sport utility vehicles—would save roughly 30 million metric tons. Carpooling, energy-efficient appliances and equipment, and even changing the temperature on washing machines and water heaters also add to the effect. And if 25 percent of drivers went back to driving 55 miles per hour on the highway, nearly eight million metric tons of carbon could be avoided each year by reducing fuel consumption 21 percent.

"People are busy, and when you gasp at your energy bill or at the gas pump you don't know what part of that bill is paying for something you want—like heating, cooling and transportation—and what part of it is just wasted," Dietz says. "We need to make it easier for people to make the links and, for some things, like weatherization, help with the up-front costs."

Similar efforts on a regional scale, such as the Hood River Conservation Project, convinced some 85 percent of possible participants to better weatherproof their homes through a mixture of financial incentives, mass media campaigns and other interventions. And the recent national "cash for clunkers" program for trading in old cars for newer, more efficient vehicles was highly popular "because the money was available up front and not as a tax rebate months later," Dietz says. "The paperwork was done by the dealerships not the car buyers, and it was well publicized by the dealers and, we think, by word of mouth," he adds.

Similar efforts to promote solar power in New Jersey, for example, have largely failed because they involve significant paperwork, delays in collecting financial incentives, and incomplete or hidden information. Similarly, programs to weatherize homes as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the federal stimulus package, may fail because they are not widely known and feature an incentive in the form of a tax credit that could take up to a year to collect. "We have neglected behavioral sciences research on energy since 1980," Dietz notes. "Consumer preferences aren't a given, [or] else there wouldn't be a multibillion dollar advertising industry."

Perhaps the simplest change to make is eliminating so-called "standby" electricity, or the energy needed to run devices, such as televisions, even when they are turned off. The emissions associated with that wasted power amount to an average of more than 94 kilograms of carbon per year for every one of the 111 million households with electricity in the U.S.—more than 10 million metric tons of carbon nationwide every year. A simple power strip that can be flicked off would eliminate all of that.