The GEAR members Carmen Córcoles, Pilar Osorio, Luis Antonio López and Jorge Zafrilla have recently published in Energy Policy the paper entitled: «The carbon footprint of the empty Castilla-La Mancha».

This paper is part of our regional project that has just started! We analyzed the carbon footprint of Castilla-La Mancha households and their mitigation potential by using the environmentally extended multiregional input-output model and HBS microdata.

What did we find? Small municipalities generate more direct emissions and have a higher carbon intensity because the lack of transport services leads them to use more private vehicles. The larger the size of the municipality, the lower the carbon intensity.

We found that the mitigation potential of the CLM household carbon footprint accounts for 20.1% Adopting a more sustainable consumption pattern could lower emissions by 2.43 tCO2!

The 43% of households in Castilla-La Mancha, which are living in municipalities of less than 10,000 inhabitants, have more difficulties modifying their housing and transport behavior than the largest municipalities. Mitigation policies must especially support small municipalities and their inhabitants. Infrastructure and social services must be developed to facilitate a change in their consumption patterns!

50 days open access: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1i4Bw14YGgpcrh…