Barriers identification, analysis and solutions to rural clean energy infrastructures development in China: Government perspective

Abstract

Under the carbon neutrality target, it is significant to build a clean, low-carbon, efficient and safe energy system in the whole society. As farmers and agriculture remain an important social and industrial component of China, good development of rural clean energy infrastructures (RCEIs) has great meaning for reducing carbon emissions. However, limited by various objective conditions, the current status of RCEIs is lagging behind, and existing studies do not change this situation very well. This research establishes a comprehensive barrier analysis system and gives specific recommendations for the government's reference. Firstly, a complete barrier list is identified according to the literature surveys, industry reports and expert consultations, which consists of 15 barriers. Then, the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is extended to the interval trapezoidal type-II fuzzy number (IT2TrFN) to convey more decision-making information, and the K-means clustering algorithm is utilized to optimize the objectivity of the threshold value. The results show that Insufficient government funding is the most important barrier, Energy consumption patterns, Lack of other infrastructure and Inadequate administration are all critical barriers for RCEIs project. At last, corresponding strategies are formulated from three aspects including Subsidy policy, Technology and talents, Administration system for the government's theoretical support and reference.