Built structures influence patterns of energy demand and CO2 emissions across countries

Extent and spatial patterns of settlements and infrastructures strongly affect resource demand of national economies worldwide. Their influence on final energy and CO2 emissions is almost as large as that of gross domestic product (GDP). Built structures, i.e. the patterns of settlements and transport infrastructures, are known to influence per-capita energy demand and CO2 emissions at the urban level. At the national level, the role of built structures is seldom considered due to poor data availability. Instead, other potential determinants of energy demand and CO2 emissions, primarily GDP, are more frequently assessed. We present a set of national-level indicators to characterize patterns of built structures. We quantify these indicators for 113 countries and statistically analyze the results along with final energy use and territorial CO2 emissions, as well as factors commonly included in national-level analyses of determinants of energy use and emissions. We find that these indicators are about equally important for predicting energy demand and CO2 emissions as GDP and other conventional factors. The area of built-up land per capita is the most important predictor, second only to the effect of GDP.

Automated summary

The extent and spatial patterns of settlements and infrastructures have a significant impact on the resource demand of national economies worldwide, almost as much as GDP. While built structures at the urban level are known to influence energy demand and CO2 emissions, their role at the national level is often overlooked due to limited data availability. Instead, factors such as GDP are more commonly assessed. In this study, we present national-level indicators to characterize patterns of built structures and find that they are almost equally important as GDP for predicting energy demand and CO2 emissions.