Energy requirements of household consumption: a case study of The Netherlands

This article describes the results of several research programmes that toge ther aim at the development and application of methodologies that enable th e study of long-term environmental effects (mainly related to the total hou sehold energy demand) of household consumption in relation to other economi c sectors; this is usually described as the household metabolism approach. In this article we use energy consumption and CO2 emissions as proxies for long-term impacts on the environment. The major long-term environmental eff ects of several hundred Dutch household consumption categories have been de termined by means of the hybrid energy analysis methodology. Total energy c onsumption and related CO2 emission data have been calculated as a function of household income and family type. Past trends have been studied by a ti me series (1950-1990) analysis. Technical reduction potentials have been ca lculated for mid and long-term scenarios. It is concluded that the set of m ethodologies described form a useful tool for the analysis of unsustainable trends in household consumption patterns and associated energy requirement s in the past and the present. The results indicate that present trends lea d towards unsustainability. However, reversal of these trends is feasible i f this starts in the immediate future and if it is maintained for decades. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.