How to promote CO2 reduction in urban households from a micro perspective?

Climate change has received widespread international attention. Household CO2 reduction can play an important role in mitigating climate change. Therefore, studying household carbon reduction plans is one of the research hotspots. Using a Survey-Evaluation-Optimization approach, this study constructs a methodology system for urban household CO2 reduction from micro perspective. It is found that the direct household CO2 emissions in the target community are about 1580 kgCO2/(cap·yr). Cooing and heat supply, cooking, hot water heating are stable and important components, accounting for about 70%. In some households, internal measures such as adjusting the temperature of air conditioning, canceling the insulation of water heaters, and changing travel modes show good CO2 reduction effects, reaching up to 650 kgCO2/yr. When the external measures are introduced to implement, the CO2 reduction effect of the internal measures is weakened, but the overall effect is improved. Especially when the low-carbon adjustment of power structure is introduced, the overall CO2 reduction can be increased by 35%. Based on this methodology, decision makers can obtain “one community, one policy” targeted implementation plan for household carbon reduction.