Revealing Monthly Urban Carbon Leakage Generated from Residential Energy Consumption

Abstract

As cities have an increasingly important role in carbon reduction programs, a good understanding of urban energy usage and associated emissions are hence expected to contribute significantly toward policy aimed at reducing energy use and emissions. In this study, residential carbon footprint is revealed by calculating direct and indirect energy demands. The results show the seasonal variation of each type of energy, as well as carbon emissions leaked across city boundaries. The output indicates that 0.35 tC of emissions were generated per household in Tokyo in 2011, including 0.20 tC generated locally and 0.15 tC generated outside of Tokyo. For carbon leakage, February and October are found to result in the highest total emissions, with leaked emissions found to exceed local emissions from July to October. Based on these results, the obvious solution to reduce residential carbon emissions would be a shift to renewable energy sources away from gas use within Tokyo and power generation outside of Tokyo.