Consumer lifestyles approach: A paradigm for understanding the role of consumers in energy use and environmental impacts

Historically, a sector-based approach has shaped the way we frame and analyze issues of energy conservation and CO₂ mitigation. This sectoral categorization has had limitations in reflecting the total impact of consumer activities on energy use, and related environmental impacts. Also, it tends to be used as evidence of the stereotypical “them” (industrial polluters) versus “us” (consumers) references of responsibility (Chapter 1 and 2). The Consumer Lifestyle Approach (CLA) is developed as an integrated assessment framework to explore the relationship between consumer activity and its environmental impacts (Chapter 3). Moreover, four CLA studies are conducted to illustrate the great potential existing in the relevant research and policy design of energy conservation and CO₂ mitigation by integrating the information of consumer lifestyles.; The first CLA study (Chapter 4) is to re-estimate U.S. energy use and CO₂ emissions from the consumer's perspective. The second is a preliminary study on home energy use (Chapter 5), which explores what factors are the most important in influencing home energy use, and who consumes more than others and why. The study of Individual CO₂ Emission Estimator (Chapter 6) helps an individual to portray his/her own profiles of energy use and CO₂ emissions and triggers discussions about how people respond once informed. The fourth study is to explore what barriers may exist in consumer fuel choices for residential water heaters (Chapter 7).; Findings from the four CLA studies point out that (1) the integration of top-down and bottom-up studies could provide a comprehensive understanding of issues related to consumer lifestyles and related energy and environmental impacts. (2) Policies should aim to reduce both direct and indirect energy use and emissions over lengthy time horizons. (3) A national model is not a good proxy for regional policy. For significant regional differences, regionally tailored policies may be more effective and efficient in solving regional problems. (4) Providing information alone is not sufficient for effective energy conservation and CO₂ reduction. It is suggested that provided information should be vivid, personalized, and targeted to specific energy users and end uses.