Pledge Category 2: Energy Use

Energy Use

Current estimates indicate that fossil fuels contribute approximately 75% of the greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors in the United States (transportation, heating and electricity for housing, manufacturing, etc.). [1] Fossil fuels underpin many human activities. Personal actions (e.g., reducing airplane trips, reducing consumption of clothes, etc.) can significantly affect an individual’s carbon footprint.

Take the Pledge!

Energy Use Brief Notes

Residential energy use accounts for approximately 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States [2].

Quantifying emissions from private vehicles can be tricky. However, estimates suggest that the transportation sector accounts for approximately 20% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, with passenger vehicles contributing half of that amount (~ 10% of the total). [3]

Electric vehicles can help substantially reduce carbon emissions. Although manufacturing batteries can have a large initial climate footprint (depending on the place of manufacture), the majority of climate related lifetime emissions from driving are due to fuel consumption. [4]

Manufacturing personal articles, such as clothing, not only uses a substantial amount of energy, but is very water intensive. For example, although clothing manufacturers are trying to reduce their environmental footprint, some jeans can require 7000-8000 liters of water to make. Shopping at thrift stores helps reduce your “sustainability footprint”. [e.g., 5]

Take the Pledge!

Energy Use Resources

Take the Pledge!

Energy Use Further Reading / Watching

  • General Information About Household Transformation Using EBikes: Award Winning Film: Motherload.
  • General Information Technological Solutions To Energy Use: Film: Carbon Nation. (Trailer: Carbon Nation)

Energy Use Footnotes

[1] Environmental Protection Agency, (2020), Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data.

[2] Goldstein, B., D. Gounaridis, and J. Newell, (2020), The carbon footprint of household energy use in the United States, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[3] Ritchie, H., (2020), Cars, planes, trains: where do CO2 emissions from transport come from?, Our World in Data.

[4] Carbon Brief, (accessed April 2021), Factcheck: How Electric Vehicles Help to Tackle Climate Change.

[5] Water Footprint Calculator (2018), How to Dress Greener: 5 Reasons to Shop at Thrift Stores.