European Citizens, Carbon Footprints and Their Determinants—Lifestyles and Urban Form

In this study we explore the differences between carbon footprints of private households across three European countries. The assessment of CO₂ emissions for housing, mobility and food is based on a survey of 844 inhabitants of rural and urban areas in Scotland, Czech Republic and Germany. The relevance of urban form, household structure, socio-demographics and lifestyle characteristics is investigated in relation to area specific conditions that influence the energy demand but also determine its enviormental impact. We can see significant differences in the carbon footprint across the case studies, which can to a certain extend be related to varying income levels in Scotland, Czech Republic and Germany. But of course, there are other influencing factors on different levels: different structural factors, such as the respective energy mix of a country, the availability of district heating and eco-friendly products such as green electricity, the urban form and household structure. Without the support of the built environment and public institutions, it is mostly difficult for individual households to translate their pro-environmental preferences into real behavior, but the data also reveals that the actors’ environmental values do have a direct influence on the level of CO₂ emissions in some areas like food and flight emissions.