A comparison of trends and magnitudes of household carbon emissions between China, Canada and UK

- Comparison of per person household C emission (HCE) is more meaningful than others.
- China's per person HCE remained many times lower than that of developed countries.
- Countries all around the world can learn lessons from Sweden and Norway.
- Per capita income, household size and population density explain a variation in HCE.

Household carbon emissions (HCEs) contribute a large proportion of global carbon emissions. For several reasons there are large differences in HCEs between countries. Using governments' annual data, this study aims to compare the trends and magnitudes of HCEs between China, Canada and the UK and pinpoint where these countries are heading and what lessons they can learn from others. In the years when HCEs were first reported (1995 in China, 1990 in Canada and 1997 in UK), per person HCEs in China, Canada and the UK were 0.54 tCO2, 13.54 tCO2 and 9.63 tCO2, respectively. These values had changed to 1.77 tCO2, 13.14 tCO2, 8.20 tCO2 by the end of reporting (2011 in China and UK and 2007 in Canada), representing an increase of 7.7%/yr in China and a decrease of 0.18%/yr in Canada and 1.14%/yr in the UK. Although the rate of increase in China was high, in absolute terms China's per person HCE remained many times lower than that of Canada and the UK. The reasons why China may not follow Canada and UK's emissions pathways are discussed. In comparison with several other studies, China's average HCEs were found to be much lower than that of developed countries. Among the developed world, Sweden and Norway had much lower HCEs, probably due to the production of electricity by hydro and nuclear power generation and the use of centralised heating systems in Sweden, and production of electricity by hydropower in Norway. Where possible, countries all around the world can learn lessons from these two countries.