Keywords: 
• household consumption between China and United States /
• direct carbon emissions /
• carbon emission account

Abstract: In recent years, more and more studies have confirmed that consumer carbon emission has become one of the major factors in the growth of carbon emissions, and the study of carbon emissions from the perspective of energy saving by residents is significant. Household carbon emissions consist of two parts: first, the residents'consumption energy directly leads to carbon emissions; second, consumptions in everyday life can cause indirect emissions. Based on the carbon emission coefficient method, quantitative calculation of direct carbon emissions by the residents of the United States and China in 2002,2005,2007 and 2010 was carried out, and the similarities and differences between them were compared. Results showed that:(1)Chinese residents' carbon emissions are mainly from coal and electricity, while U.S. residents carbon emissions are mainly from electricity and natural gas;(2)the percentage of gas and electricity in China's carbon emissions has grown two points;(3)though the two countries accounted for a large part in carbon emissions, China's emissions in this field are only one eighth compared with America's;(4)the present Chinese consumer's direct carbon emissions are rising year by year, while the U.S. show a slightly downward trend in recent years;U.S. residents direct carbon emissions are three times more than that of China's in this respect.