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Abstract Since the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home (WFH) has rapidly become widespread, leading to changes in energy demand in both the residential and transportation sectors. The survey on the Actual Conditions of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from the Residential Sector in Japan, conducted by the Ministry of the Environment, has included a section on the implementation status of WFH since the 2021 survey. Using microdata from this survey, this study examines the characteristics of household energy demand-including automobile fuel consumption-among households engaging in WFH across different city-size groups. The multiple regression analysis indicates that household energy consumption among the WFH group was 8% higher than that among the non-WFH group in City Group 1 (prefectural capitals and major designated cities), while no significant differences were observed in other city groups. Regarding transportation energy use, automobile fuel consumption was 37% lower in City Group 1 and 28% lower in City Group 2 (cities with populations of 50 000 or more), whereas no significant difference was found in City Group 3 (cities with populations below 50 000, towns, and villages). These results indicate that the association between WFH and household energy consumption differs substantially depending on the degree of urbanization. To provide broader contextual background, supplementary pre-/post-COVID comparisons based on city-group-level annual statistics for FY2019-FY2021 were also examined. These supplementary comparisons suggest that the combined pattern of in-home energy use and automobile fuel use differed across city groups, with the total tending to decline in more urbanized groups but remaining broadly stable in the least urbanized group. Although these aggregate comparisons should not be interpreted as direct evidence of WFH effects, taken together the findings highlight the importance of considering urban context when evaluating the broader energy implications associated with WFH.
XUAN et al. (Fri,) studied this question.