Impact of Household Consumption Activities on Energy Consumption in China—Evidence from the Lifestyle Perspective and Input-output Analysis

Abstract

The household sector has become the second largest consumer of final energy, ranking only next to the industrial sector in China. Except for the direct energy consumption of household sector, people's consumption activities also indirectly affect the energy consumption of multiple production sectors. This paper investigates the direct and indirect impact of household consumption activities on energy consumption in China from the consumers’ lifestyle perspective based on the input-output analysis. The results show that China's energy consumption caused by household consumption activities in 2012 accounts for 24.7% of the total finial energy consumption. The indirect energy consumption of household consumption activities is 1.35 times more than the direct energy consumption. Residential activities cause the most indirect energy consumption, while the smelting and pressing industry of ferrous metal is the most energy-consuming industrial sector influenced by household consumption. We also find that the low-carbon pattern and accelerated technological advance can reduce the indirect energy consumption effectively by scenario analysis.