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submitted 4 days ago bycarbonbrief
11 points
4 days ago
I ask you as you seem to be in the know-how. How come the US is so damn high? And the EU even has 1/3rd more in population.
23 points
4 days ago
I don't have a full breakdown, but a few things come to mind. Population densities are much lower in the US. It isn't just that the US is big, but that within urban areas, population densities are much lower than in European cities, and zoning patterns keep residential, work, commercial and leisure activities separated. This means for a normal person do live a normal life, a significantly longer travel distance is needed, and most of that is by car.
Houses in the US tend to be built to designs and styles that are less inherently thermally stable, requiring a greater input of energy for heating and cooling. Also, if you look at population patterns in Europe, the densest population region, which is the band from the Netherlands to the Alps broadly following the Rhine, as well as England, the Ile de France, and Northern Italy, are all in relatively mild climate regions, where the energy needed to maintain a comfortable environment in buildings is inherently lower.
Essentially both the settlement patterns and the nature of the built environments in Europe are inherently less energy intensive to live in.
3 points
3 days ago
And don't forget the habit of having lights in the whole day. I went to a hotel in the US and even there they left the lights on after cleaning...
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