Drivers of natural gas use in U.S. residential buildings.

ABSTRACT: Natural gas is the primary fuel used in U.S. residences, yet little is known about its consumption patterns and drivers. We use daily county-level gas consumption data to assess the spatial patterns of the relationships and the sensitivities of gas consumption to outdoor air temperature across U.S. households. We fitted linear-plus-plateau functions to daily gas consumption data in 1000 counties, and derived two key coefficients: the heating temperature threshold (T_crit) and the gas consumption rate change per 1°C temperature drop (Slope). We identified the main predictors of T_crit and Slope (like income, employment rate, and building type) using interpretable machine learning models built on census data. Finally, we estimated a potential 2.47 million Mt

SUBMITTER: Mittakola RT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10990266 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature