This technical report documents 2-0 LCA’s calculation of greenhouse gas emissions from Danish consumption in 2016. CONCITO commissioned the study, which uses a consequential model to examine the link between changes in consumption, production and global emissions.
The assessment covers final consumption by Danish households, government and non-profit institutions serving households. It follows supply chains across the world, including those behind imported products. This gives a different perspective from a territorial inventory of emissions within Denmark.
The calculation uses the hybrid version of EXIOBASE v4.0. The model combines physical flows of materials and energy with monetary flows for other products and services. It covers 43 countries and five rest-of-world regions.
The consequential approach represents suppliers expected to respond to changes in demand and accounts for substitution by by-products. The report also addresses indirect land use change, the timing of carbon emissions and uptake from biomass, capital goods and aviation contrails.
The calculated footprint for Danish consumption in 2016 is 73.9 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent, or 12.9 tonnes per person. Food, transport and housing are major contributors. The report provides breakdowns by product and service to help identify where changes in consumption can influence emissions.
Two scenarios illustrate the model’s use: replacement of one million conventional cars with electric cars, and replacement of 90% of household beef consumption with pork and chicken. These calculations use defined assumptions about substitution. Their results exclude potential rebound effects from differences in cost.
The model estimates emission changes caused by marginal changes in consumption or production. The national total and per-person figures provide a baseline for comparison. They do not imply that the effects of removing all Danish consumption can be predicted by scaling up a small change.
The results refer to the study’s 2016 data and modelling assumptions. Uncertainty includes the identification of suppliers that respond to demand and the calculation of indirect land use change. This technical report focuses on methods and data. A separate CONCITO report provides a more detailed interpretation of the findings.
