Study says remote work could cause drop in carbon emissions

Working from home could help combat climate change but could also negatively impact mass transit systems.

Is remote work the answer to solving climate change? A new University of Florida study indicates that increasing remote work could reduce Americans' carbon footprint. 

According to research published this week in Nature Cities, a 10% reduction in on-site workers from 2019 levels could cause an annual reduction of 191.8 million metric tons in CO2 emissions. 

The researchers, however, noted that a reduction in on-site work would cause a significant drop in public transit revenue. They said a 10% decline in on-site workers would cause transit systems to lose $3.7 billion nationally every year, a 27% drop.

Numerous studies have indicated that mass transit can help combat climate change given buses and trains are capable of carrying a large number of passengers. 

“Transit agencies need to be very concerned,” Shenhao Wang, a professor of urban planning at University of Florida who supervised the study, said in a press release. “Yet overall we would expect less energy consumption from reduced car travel. So the picture is very complicated, and whether the effects are positive or negative depends on the stakeholder.”