Energy Consumption In Rural China Research Articles

Has the Development of Broadband Infrastructure Improved Household Energy Consumption in Rural China?

Digital infrastructure plays a crucial role in shaping household energy consumption behaviors, especially in the context of achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals in China. In this study, we explored the impact of broadband infrastructure on household energy consumption and clean fuel choices, using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). In a difference-in-differences (DID) framework, our findings indicate that the promotion of broadband infrastructure significantly increases rural household energy consumption and facilitates a transition to cleaner energy sources. Notably, households with better socioeconomic status, particularly those with higher education and income levels, benefit more from enhanced broadband internet access. Mechanism analysis reveals that the “Broadband China” policy can positively influence household consumption through several potential channels: fostering technological innovation, enhancing energy efficiency in cities, and improving overall environmental awareness. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of broadband infrastructure in shaping household energy consumption patterns and have important implications for policymakers, particularly in the context of sustainable development and energy transition efforts.

Policy impact of national comprehensive pilot initiative for new-type urbanization on carbon emissions from rural energy consumption in China

Policy impact of national comprehensive pilot initiative for new-type urbanization on carbon emissions from rural energy consumption in China

Spatial-temporal pattern and spatial convergence of carbon emission intensity of rural energy consumption in China.

Based on the panel data of 30 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) in China from 2005 to 2019, this paper uses Gini coefficient decomposition and kernel density estimation to investigate the regional differences and dynamic evolution trend of rural energy carbon emission intensity in China. Then, the convergence model is used to analyze the convergence characteristics and influencing factors of carbon emission intensity. The study found the following: (1) During the observation period, the carbon emissions of coal energy and oil energy were much higher than those of gas energy. The carbon emissions of rural energy consumption experienced three stages of development, and the carbon emission intensity showed a downward trend as a whole. The spatial distribution pattern of total carbon emissions present an "adder" distribution, and the spatial agglomeration phenomenon gradually strengthens with the passage of time. (2) The Gini coefficient of China's rural energy consumption carbon emission intensity shows a trend of "Inverted N-shaped." The Gini coefficient of carbon emission intensity in the eastern and northeastern regions shows an increasing trend, while the Gini coefficient of carbon emission intensity in the western and central regions shows a downward trend. The super variable density is the main source of carbon emission intensity difference. The peak value of the main peak of the nuclear density curve of the carbon emission intensity increased significantly, the bimodal form evolved into a single peak form, and the density center moved to the left. (3) The carbon emission intensity of rural energy consumption in the whole, central, and western regions of China has the characteristic of σ convergence, while the carbon emission intensity in the eastern and northeastern regions does not have the characteristic of σ convergence. There is a significant spatial positive correlation in the carbon emission intensity, there is also a significant β convergence characteristic, the speed of conditional β convergence is significantly higher than that of absolute β convergence, and the spatial interaction will further improve the convergence speed. Industrial structure, industrial agglomeration, and energy efficiency will increase the convergence speed. In terms of sub-regions, the conditional convergence rate of carbon emission intensity in the four regions shows a decreasing trend in the northeast, central, eastern, and western regions.

Off-farm employment and household clean energy transition in rural China: A study based on a gender perspective

Although numerous studies in developing countries have increasingly focused on the important implications of off-farm employment for the success of rural energy transition, it is easy to ignore the fact that determining who to employ in off-farm sectors can impact household energy transition decisions differently. Based on the nationally representative data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) 2015 survey, this study tries to fill the gap and examines the interaction between off-farm employment decisions between couples and household clean energy consumption in rural China by providing a new view towards gender. The results show that two-paycheck households consume more clean energy than other household types. Off-farm employment of women is a key factor driving the household clean energy consumption to a higher level, and wage-employed wives contribute more to these decisions than self-employed ones.

Estimation of biomass energy consumption in rural China

Estimation of biomass energy consumption in rural China

How nonfarm employment drives the households’ energy transition: Evidence from rural China

Amid the rapid increase of energy consumption, the air pollution and related health problems caused by traditional energy consumption have become increasingly severe in rural areas, and it is now urgent to expand clean energy consumption and achieve energy upgrades. Nonfarm employment can significantly raise rural residents’ incomes, which can then affect the available energy consumption choices. However, whether nonfarm employment can promote the transition of energy consumption and its potential influencing mechanisms must be further studied. Based on 2018 survey data on energy consumption in rural China, a cross-sectional regression method with instrumental variables is used to explore the effect of nonfarm employment on energy consumption. The results demonstrate that nonfarm employment has a significantly positive impact on energy efficiency and effective energy consumption per capita, but no significant impact is found on total energy consumption per capita. Specifically, nonfarm employment increases electricity, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas consumption, and reduces coal and biomass energy consumption. Nonfarm employment can affect household energy consumption in rural areas through income, demonstration, and labor effects. Income effect indicates that when nonfarm income increases by 1%, energy efficiency significantly increases by 0.108%, and effective energy consumption per capita significantly increases by 0.074%. Demonstration effect indicates that nonfarm employment outside the county significantly improves energy efficiency. Labor effect indicating that the threshold values of nonfarm employment time on energy efficiency and effective energy consumption are 10.278 standard working months and 11.367 standard working months. The research shows that nonfarm employment plays an important role in the clean and efficient transformation of energy in rural areas.

What are the priorities for improving the cleanliness of energy consumption in rural China? Urbanisation advancement or agriculture development?

China's rural energy construction is facing many problems. In this study, we used a structural equation model to investigate the influence path of agricultural development and urbanisation advancement on the clean level of energy use in agricultural production and rural life. The results show that: (1) Agricultural mechanisation has improved the clean level of energy use and change the development pattern into a more sustainable model in agricultural production, agricultural development may hinders the advancement of agricultural mechanisation while restricting clean energy use in agricultural production. (2) Urbanisation advancement increases the consumption proportion of clean energy in agricultural production through the mediation effect of the agricultural mechanisation. (3) The increase in farmers' income has reduced the consumption proportion of coal in rural life. (4) Agricultural development is the main driving force for improving the clean level energy use in rural life, and this driving force can be strengthened by increasing farmers' income brought by agricultural development. (5) The improving effect of agricultural development on the clean level energy use in rural life is far greater than that of urbanisation advancement. In summary, agricultural development should be the focus of China's rural energy constructions, and promoting agricultural mechanisations and increasing farmers' income should be the focus of policy. Urbanisation advancement should be promoted in a balanced way in poor and rich areas while paying attention to the governance of low-quality energy.

Carbon emissions’ spatial-temporal heterogeneity and identification from rural energy consumption in China

Carbon emissions from industry and cities have been the focus of global carbon emissions control, but the need to reduce carbon emissions from large agricultural countries cannot be ignored. This study measured rural carbon emissions based on the energy consumption of rural residents and agricultural production from 2000 to 2018 in China, and the spatial-temporal evolution and variation of rural carbon emissions were analyzed using the quadrant diagram method and Theil index, which also further identified the contribution elements of rural carbon emissions. The gradual growth of rural carbon emissions in China’s provinces has been accompanied by a spatial clustering of high emissions, and the carbon emissions among the country’s eight regions are characterized by large inter-regional and small intra-regional differences. By identifying the carbon emissions contributions of regions and the carbon sources, we found that the provinces in the central region produce the most emissions, with the top 3 of 11 provinces contributing up to 61.56% of the total national production. Furthermore, emissions from the dominant carbon source in rural China, raw coal, has decreased to 49.22%, and the low use of electricity and natural gas results in the structure of rural carbon sources being weakly decarbonized. The decomposition of carbon emissions indicated that rural economic development plays a prominent contributory role in carbon emissions, whereas energy consumption per unit output value has a significant inhibitory effect on carbon emissions. This study contributes to current carbon emission-related research by identifying the main contributors of rural carbon emissions from multiple perspectives.

Household energy consumption in rural China: Historical development, present pattern and policy implication

Household energy consumption in rural areas is strongly related to living standards, poverty alleviation, air pollution and health, but lacks solid analysis due to limited data. This paper first presents a systematical overview of rural household energy consumption in China from 1985 to 2013. To quantify and illustrate the pattern of rural household energy consumption, we use a comprehensive household survey, the Chinese Residential Energy Consumption Survey (CRECS, 2013) to illustrate the energy consumption by seven types of energy and five types of end-use demand. Moreover, we compare the rural household energy consumption in terms of quantity, fuel mix and demand structure by North-South regions, East-Middle-West areas and various countries. We identify the biomass still dominate Chinese rural household energy supply while cooking and space heating are the most energy-intensive demand. The overall energy efficiency for a rural household is 33%, mainly attributed to the massive use of biomass. Policy implications are summarized and discussed.

Rising wages and energy consumption transition in rural China

Residential energy consumption in rural China is undergoing a transition from traditional biomass energy to modern commercial energy. This paper examines the impact of rising wage rates on energy consumption mix in rural China. Using a unique panel data set from our two-round surveys of 409 rural households in 4 provinces, the results show that the wage rate at the village level has a significant negative impact on traditional biomass energy consumption and significant positive effects on consumption of electricity and new renewable energy in rural China. As traditional biomass energy is mainly collected with family labor and is relatively labor intensive, an increase in rural wage rates would enhance the opportunity costs of traditional biomass energy, leading to a reduction in biomass energy consumption. Continuously rising rural wage rates could accelerate the transition from biomass energy to electricity in rural areas. These findings could have important policy implications, not only for indoor air quality and environmental and health issues in rural areas but also for greater security in rural energy supply and policies to incentive farmers to better utilize biomass resource after harvest.

Energy Consumption in Rural China: Analysis of Rural Living Energy in Beijing

Under the pressure of climate change and international carbon reduction targets, long-neglected rural energy consumption needs to be given high priority. China’s rural energy consumption structure is in the transition from non-commercial to commercial sources, and rural energy has become a key determinant to slow down the carbon emission growth. This paper systematically calibrates the current situation of rural energy consumption in Beijing by using the survey data of 1866 households in 13 districts and counties in Beijing based on the trend of energy supply and demand change in China. To this end, the paper combines rural policy measures to assess the pressure on coal-burning and clean energy supply trends, puts forward the rural energy structure adjustment path, with a view to promoting the use of clean energy in rural areas and reduce the environmental consequences of coal-burning.

Energy and environment in Chinese rural buildings: Situations, challenges, and intervention strategies

A large-scale national survey of energy consumption and indoor environmental quality of rural housing was conducted in China. Its purpose was to obtain fundamental data and to analyze key problems related to the homes of approximately 600 million rural people. The survey results indicate that the total annual household energy consumption in rural China reached 317 million tons of standard coal equivalent (tce) (9.3 × 109 GJ), in the forms of 192 million tons of raw coal (4.0 × 109 GJ), 5.9 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (0.3 × 109 MJ), 132 billion kWh of electricity (1.4 × 109 GJ), and 219 million tons of raw biomass (3.6 × 109 GJ). There is an upward trend in the use of coal for space heating and cooking, which is a significant source of air pollution. The pilot study of a program to provide passive energy savings in northern rural China was also conducted. Based on the results of actual demonstration projects, feasible intervention strategies for sustainable development in rural China are proposed, with the goal of achieving “zero coal villages”. Projections show that achieving “zero coal villages” nationwide could provide huge and permanent benefits both to China and to the rest of the world. The results obtained from this study could also provide guidance for development of rural housing in other countries, particularly in the developing world.

Residential energy consumption and associated carbon emission in forest rural area in China: A case study in Weichang County

Rural energy consumption in China has increased dramatically in the last decades, and has become a significant contributor of carbon emissions. Yet there is limited data on energy consumption patterns and their evolution in forest rural areas of China. In order to bridge this gap, we report the findings of field surveys in forest villages in Weichang County as a case study of rural energy consumption in northern China. We found that the residential energy consumption per household is 3313 kgce yr(-1) (kilogram standard coal equivalent per year), with energy content of 9.7 x 107 kJ yr(-1), including 1783 kgce yr(-1) from coal, 1386 kgce yr(-1) from fuel wood, 96 kgce yr(-1) from electricity, and 49 kgce yr(-1) from LPG. Per capita consumption is 909 kgce yr(-1) and its energy content is 2.7 x 107 kJ yr(-1). Due to a total energy utilization efficiency of 24.6%, all the consumed energy can only supply about 2.4 x 107 kJ yr(-1) of efficient energy content. Secondly, household energy consumption is partitioned into 2614 kgce yr(-1) for heating, 616 kgce yr(-1) for cooking, and 117 kgce yr(-1) for home appliances. Thirdly, the associated carbon emissions per household are 2556 kgC yr(-1), including 1022 kgC yr(-1) from unutilized fuel wood (90% of the total fuel wood). The rest of emissions come from the use of electricity (212 kgC yr(-1)), coal (1301 kgC yr(-1)) and LPG (21 kgC yr(-1)). Fourthly, local climate, family size and household income have strong influences on rural residential energy consumption. Changes in storage and utilization practices of fuel can lead to the 10%-30% increase in the efficiency of fuel wood use, leading to reduced energy consumption by 924 kgce yr(-1) per household (27.9% reduction) and 901 kgC yr(-1) of carbon emissions (35.3% reduction).

Carbon emissions by rural energy in China

Carbon emissions due to rural energy consumption in China have not yet been sufficiently addressed or quantified. In this work systematic accounting with a life cycle perspective was used to estimate both the direct CO2 emissions from fuel combustion and the indirect emissions from the production and provision of rural energy carriers. The results indicate that the total direct CO2 emissions resulting from rural energy consumption have nearly tripled, from 0.79 billion metric tons (hereafter ton) in 1979 to 1.98 billion tons in 2008, whilst indirect emissions have nearly quadrupled, from 0.27 billion tons to 0.85 billion tons for the same period. This finding quantitatively illustrates the importance of rural energy consumption as a contributor to China's overall carbon emission. In addition, the analysis of per capita emission from rural energy revealed significant regional disparities and similarities in emission and energy sources used. Both total and per capita CO2 are significantly higher in the North China, which is largely due to the colder climate and the relatively high economic development levels for multi-demands of energy utilisation. The analysis and results presented here provide substantial information for policy makers in relation to energy and emission targets in China.

农村民居改造对生活能源消费影响因素分析

中国农村能源消费问题是关系到中国能否可持续发展的重要问题。通过调研收集到北京地区农村住宅能源消费及民居改造的数据，然后采用相关分析和因子分析筛选并提取了影响能源消费的变量信息，最后通过灰色关联分析计算出农户生活能源消费与影响因素之间的关联度。结果表明家庭人口是生活能源消费的主要影响因素，节能改造可以有效降低农户能源消费量，政府的支持对减少秸秆/柴薪的使用量有明显的促进作用。 The problem of rural energy consumption in China is an important issue whether China can develop sustainably. Through investigation, we have collected the data of Beijing rural residential energy consumption and rural residence transformation, then we adopt correlation analysis and factorial analysis to screen and extract the variable information affecting energy consumption, and finally figure out the correlation degree between peasant household residential energy consumption and influence factors. The results show that the family population is a major influence factor of residential energy consumption, and the energy-saving transformation can effectively reduce the energy consumption quantity of peasant household, as well as that the government support remarkably promotes the reduction of usage amount of straw/firewood.

Identification of Chaotic Characteristics of Rural Energy Consumption in China Based on GA and Neural Network

This paper pointed out that the time series of rural energy consumption in China had a chaotic process, the maximum of range forecasting was 7.8 years, and then built a chaos-neural network forecasting model of China's rural energy consumption, the result showed that the total rural energy consumption would reach 1276.3307 million tones standard coal equivalent in 2010. Finally, some advices were proposed to the development of rural energy.

Energy consumption patterns by local residents in four nature reserves in the subtropical broadleaved forest zone of China

Collection of fuelwood by local residents in or around nature reserves of China has caused problems such as disturbance of habitat for wildlife and deforestation. Thus, it is important to study the energy consumption patterns by those local residents live in or around nature reserves to find solutions to reduce the amount of fuelwood consumption. We chose four nature reserves: Longxi-Hongkou National Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province, Taohongling National Nature Reserve, Jiangxi Province, Qingmuchuan Nature Reserve, Shaanxi Province, and Laoxiancheng Nature Reserve, Shaanxi Province in the subtropical zone of China to study this problem. We found no significant difference of total energy consumption per household per year in the four nature reserves, which was about 2 ton of standard coal per year. But the energy consumption patterns in different reserves were different. People who live in deep mountains more relied on collecting fuelwoods from surrounding forests whereas those live in areas with relatively developed economy and better transportation condition consumed more coals, liquidinized petroleum gas and electricity. Such a pattern also reflects the changing energy spectrum during the process of modernization in China. We concluded that economic status of household and the transportation condition are two important factors affecting the energy consumption patterns in households in the nature reserves in China, which reflect the general energy consumption in rural China.

Socioeconomic Barriers to Biogas Development in Rural Southwest China: An Ethnographic Case Study

The household biogas system has a potential to offer significant health, economic, and environmental benefits to millions of households in rural China. In 1997, the Chinese legislature declared biogas as a national energy development agenda, and the Chinese government subsidies for biogas have been increasing since then. Nevertheless, only about 12 percent of rural households utilize biogas. In poor regions, the figure is much lower. At present, biogas counts for merely 1 percent of energy consumption in rural China. In this article, drawing on my ethnographic fieldwork, I examine the socioeconomic barriers to biogas development in rural Southwest China. My central question is: what are the factors that prevent farmers from utilizing biogas and how can development agencies help remove such barriers? Anchored in anthropological insights on technology adoption, this study first identifies main barriers to biogas adoption through a villagewide survey. Then, I examine such barriers in their socioeconomic cont...

Temporal and spatial variations of energy consumption in rural China

Presented in this paper is an overview of energy consumption in rural China in view of temporal and spatial variations. Characterized by steadily decreased proportion of biomass use and increased percentage of coal and electricity use, coal and biomass are still the major energy sources in rural areas, accounting for nearly 80% of the total rural energy consumption. Moreover, the energy consumption varies significantly across provinces both in total sum and by fuel types due to diversities of geographic features, economic development levels and local energy source availability. Three statistical groups are clustered associated with quantitative change and structural change, exhibiting evident transition from noncommercial energy pattern to commercial energy pattern. Much more work need to be done to cope with the forthcoming dramatic changes associated with booming rural economy and newly released policy from the points of both energy security and environmental pressure in China.

Household CO and PM measured as part of a review of China's National Improved Stove Program

In 2001-2003, a team of researchers from the United States and China performed an independent, multidisciplinary review of China's National Improved Stove Program carried out since the 1980s. As part of a 3500-household survey, a subsample of 396 rural households were monitored for particulate matter less than 4 microm (PM(4)) in kitchens and living rooms over 24 h, of which 159 were measured in both summer and winter. Carbon monoxide was measured in a 40% subsample. The results of this indoor air quality (IAQ) component indicate that for nearly all household stove or fuel groupings, PM(4) levels were higher than - and sometimes more than twice as high as - the national PM(10) standard for indoor air (150 microg PM(10)/m(3)). If these results are typical, then a large fraction of China's rural population is now chronically exposed to levels of pollution far higher than those determined by the Chinese government to harm human health. Further, we observed highly diverse fuel usage patterns in these regions in China, supporting the observations in the household survey of multiple stoves being present in many kitchens. Improved stoves resulted in reduced PM(4) from biomass fuel combinations, but still not at levels that meet standards, and little improvement was observed in indoor pollution levels when other unimproved stoves were present in the same kitchen. As many households change fuels according to daily and seasonal factors, resulting in different seasonal concentrations in living rooms and kitchens, assessing health implications from fuel use requires longitudinal evaluation of fuel use and IAQ levels, combined with accurate time-activity information. Leaving aside the difficult issue of enforcement, it is uncertain whether Chinese household IAQ standards represent realistic objectives for current attainment given current patterns of energy consumption in rural China, which rely so heavily on unprocessed solid fuels. Even when used with chimneys, these fuels emit substantial pollution into the household environment. It is probable that low-emission technologies involving gaseous/liquid fuels or high combustion - efficiency biomass stoves need to be promoted in order to achieve these standards for the greater part of the population.