We address a wide range of interdisciplinary research topics, related to societal and individual consumption patterns and their consequences for greenhouse gas emissions and resource use.
Specific emphasis is put on consumption areas with large impacts, including air travel, car use and food habits but the research also covers aspects related to the overall volume and composition of household expenditures. Examples of studies:
- Determinants of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from private consumption (including technological, economic, socio-demographic, physical/spatial and motivational determinants).
- Impacts on emissions and resource use of various demand-side measures analysed using scenarios and prospective life cycle analysis.
- Rebound effects of technical energy efficiency improvements and consumption choices.
- Policy analysis, including analyses of public support for new policies.
An open approach to the formulation of relevant and interesting research questions is applied, with the subsequent large variation in choice of methods. The research group is interdisciplinary including researchers with both a social science and engineering backgrounds. Currently the main research project is “Mistra Sustainable Consumption”, which is a large programme with collaborations with several other universities and societal partners.
Senior researchers
Key Publications
Larsson, J., Morfeldt, J., Johansson, D., Rootzén, J., Hult, C., Åkerman, J., Hedenus, F., Sprei, F., Nässén, J. (2022). Consumption based scenarios for Sweden – a basis for discussing new climate targets. Mistra Sustainable Consumption, Rapport 1:11E.
Morfeldt, J., Johansson, D.J.A. Impacts of shared mobility on vehicle lifetimes and the carbon footprint of electric vehicles. Nature Communications. (forthcoming)
Larsson, J., Matti, S., & Nässén, J. (2020). Public support for aviation policy measures in Sweden. Climate Policy, 20(10), 1305-1321. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2020.1759499
Larsson, J., Kamb, A., Nässén, J., & Åkerman, J. (2018). Measuring greenhouse gas emissions from international air travel of a country’s residents - methodological development and application for Sweden. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 72, 137-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2018.05.013
Andersson, D. (2020). A novel approach to calculate individuals’ carbon footprints using financial transaction data–App development and design. Journal of Cleaner Production, 256, 120396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120396
Nässén, J., & Larsson, J. (2015). Would shorter working time reduce greenhouse gas emissions? An analysis of time use and consumption in Swedish households. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 33(4), 726-745. https://doi.org/10.1068/c12239
Nässén, J., Andersson, D., Larsson, J., & Holmberg, J. (2015). Explaining the variation in greenhouse gas emissions between households: Socioeconomic, motivational, and physical factors. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 19(3), 480-489. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12168
Andersson, D., Linscott, R., & Nässén, J. (2019). Estimating car use rebound effects from Swedish microdata. Energy Efficiency, 12(8), 2215-2225. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-019-09823-w