Monthly direct and indirect greenhouse gases emissions from household consumption in the major Japanese cities

Abstract

Urban household consumption contributes substantially to global greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions. Urban household emissions encompass both direct and indirect emissions, with the former associated with the direct use of fossil fuels and the latter with the emissions embodied in the consumed goods and services. However, there is a lack of consistent and comprehensive datasets outlining in great detail emissions from urban household consumption. To bridge this data gap, we construct an emission inventory of urban household emissions for 52 major cities in Japan that covers around 500 emission categories. The dataset spans from January 2011 to December 2015 and contains 12,384 data records for direct emissions and 1,543,128 records for indirect emissions. Direct emission intensity is provided in g-CO2/JPY to facilitate both future studies of household emission in Japan, as well as act as a reference for the development of detailed household emission inventories in other countries.

Extension and update of multiscale monthly household carbon footprint in Japan from 2011 to 2022

“…Within the urban context, it is essential to identify specific components within cities that should assume responsibility for implementing climate-change mitigation policies to refine the focus on the significance of urban areas 38 – 40 . According to various previous demonstrations and analyses, household consumption is a vital component of urban emissions 41 – 43 , and the necessity of decarbonization has become increasingly critical owing to climate-related concerns. Consequently, understanding the nexus between household behavior and the environment is paramount, given that the production and provision of goods and services are chiefly oriented toward fulfilling the ultimate demand of households 19 , 44 – 46 .…”

“…In our previous research 41 , we analyzed monthly direct and indirect GHG emissions for 51–52 Japanese cities, spanning 2011 to 2015. The dataset encompasses 1,555,512 items, with 1,543,128 items for indirect emissions and 12,384 items for direct emissions, which are publicly accessible via Figshare in the form of 17 Excel files.…”

Japanese urban household carbon footprints during early-stage COVID-19 pandemic were consistent with those over the past decade

“…Considering that Japan is currently experiencing an accelerating depopulation and aging transition 45 , with more population and younger labor increasingly flowing into megacities 46 , 47 , the implementation of emission reduction policies would make limited progress if we relied solely on global and national calls without considering actions at the subnational level (considering the upgraded spatial heterogeneity). Due to the varying industrial activities and technological levels in different regions and the need to understand the spatial characteristics of carbon footprints better, increasing attention has been given to cities in recent years when conducting carbon accounting in Japan 18 , 48 – 50 . To date, Japan’s subnational carbon accounting has been conducted in certain defined aspects 49 , and the changes in household direct and indirect carbon emissions have been identified in a specific period 17 , 51 .…”

Carbon Footprint Differentiation in the Japanese Residential Sector Due To Income‐Driven Divergences in Consumption and Time Allocation

“…For example, studies from the residential sector have found that non‐CO 2 GHGs contribute nearly a quarter of the direct emissions of the residential sector in terms of CO 2 eq (Reinders & Blok, 1999). Furthermore, several studies from the residential sector have shown that the direct emissions are generally much lower than indirect emissions, usually accounting for more than 80% of the total sectoral emissions (even when accounting for non‐CO 2 GHGs) (Kanemoto et al., 2020; Long, Jiang, et al., 2021; Zhang, Zhang, et al., 2018).…”