ABSTRACT
There is a clear link between the lifestyles of individuals or households, and energy consumption patterns. The concept of environmental sustainability in India has been closely linked to some of these lifestyle choices – the food consumed, the mode of cooking, the transport used, recycling practices followed. India’s low per capita carbon footprint is therefore not just due to its poverty and low per capita energy consumption, but also due to these clear lifestyle choices. However, in more recent times, with the growth in urbanization and globalization, energy consumption patterns in the more affl uent segments of the household sector in India (as in some other developing countries), are gradually converging towards those of developed countries. In China, a recent study by Wei et al. (2007) suggests that approximately 26 per cent of total energy consumption and 30 per cent of CO
2 emissions in the country every year are a consequence of residents’
lifestyles, and the economic activities that support these demands. In an era of globalization, and with huge metropolitan areas growing across the developing world, the rich are opting for more energy intensive consumption, shaped by values and aspirations introduced via the mass media. The implications of more energy intensive lifestyles are serious both for energy security and for climate security and need careful attention.
