How does COVID-19 affect the life cycle environmental impacts of U.S. household energy and food consumption?
Environmental Research Letters
; 17(3):034025, 2022.
Article
Dans Anglais
| ProQuest Central | ID: covidwho-1730594
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced travel but led to an increase in household food and energy consumption. Previous studies have explored the changes in household consumption of food and energy during the pandemic;however, the economy-wide environmental implications of these changes have not been investigated. This study addresses the knowledge gap by estimating the life cycle environmental impacts of U.S. households during the pandemic using a hybrid life cycle assessment. The results revealed that the reduction in travel outweighed the increase in household energy consumption, leading to a nationwide decrease in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions (−255 Mton CO2 eq), energy use (−4.46 EJ), smog formation (−9.17 Mton O3 eq), minerals and metal use (−16.1 Mton), commercial wastes (−8.31 Mton), and acidification (−226 kton SO2 eq). However, U.S. households had more life cycle freshwater withdrawals (+8.6 Gton) and slightly higher eutrophication (+0.2%), ozone depletion (+0.7%), and freshwater ecotoxicity (+2.1%) caused by increased household energy and food consumption. This study also demonstrated the environmental trade-offs between decreased food services and increased food consumption at home, resulting in diverse trends for food-related life cycle environmental impacts.
Environmental Studies; household; COVID-19; pandemic; food; energy; environmental impact; life cycle assessment; Pandemics; Ozone depletion; Food consumption; Households; Eutrophication; Minerals; Greenhouse gases; Life cycle analysis; Carbon dioxide; Travel; Smog; Energy consumption; Greenhouse effect; Residential energy; Emissions; Life cycles; Acidification; Coronaviruses; Sulfur dioxide; United States--US
Texte intégral:
Disponible
Collection:
Bases de données des oragnisations internationales
Base de données:
ProQuest Central
Type d'étude:
Études expérimentales
langue:
Anglais
Revue:
Environmental Research Letters
Année:
2022
Type de document:
Article
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