COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Energy Consumption—A Survey of College Students in Japan

In 2020, the surge in COVID-19 cases led to a self-imposed lockdown on Japanese citizens. This reduced job opportunities, while forcing others to work remotely from home. Households with low incomes, such as those living on part-time jobs and pensions, are among the most vulnerable to these changes. College students belong to this category of households, as the majority live on minimum hourly-paid jobs, while paying for daily life expenses. To explore the effects of the lockdowns on this household category, we investigated 218 independent college student households in a survey on their attitudes and practices toward energy use during the COVID-19 lockdowns, as well as other effects on daily lives. The results reveal that 93.1% of the respondents were affected by the lockdowns in one way or another, while 68.8% of the respondents reported an increase in their energy consumption inside the household.