Could the U.S. Cut Household Electricity Use by Two-Thirds?

Your mind-blowing chart of the day, courtesy of Arne Jungjohann at the Heinrich Böll Foundation. To be fair, there’s little need for air conditioning in Germany compared to the United States, but air conditioning only accounts for about 20% of U.S. household electricity consumption. Leaving it out make it 9,200 kWh vs. 3,100 kWh. Wow. […]

Your mind-blowing chart of the day, courtesy of Arne Jungjohann at the Heinrich Böll Foundation. To be fair, there’s little need for air conditioning in Germany compared to the United States, but air conditioning only accounts for about 20% of U.S. household electricity consumption. Leaving it out make it 9,200 kWh vs. 3,100 kWh.

Reader support helps sustain our work. Donate today to keep our climate news free. All donations DOUBLED!

One Time
Monthly

$10
$15
Other

Wow.

Source for U.S. use; source for German use; used U.S. average household size of 2.6.

A message from

All donations DOUBLED!

Grist is the only award-winning newsroom focused on exploring equitable solutions to climate change. It’s vital reporting made entirely possible by loyal readers like you. At Grist, we don’t believe in paywalls. Instead, we rely on our readers to pitch in what they can so that we can continue bringing you our solution-based climate news.

Donate Now Not Now