Abstract
Rural household energy consumption is an important component of national energy consumption. This paper explores the rural household energy consumption status and influencing factors on different sources of rural household energy consumption in western China. Using data from a survey of 240 households conducted in 2017, this study finds that rural households’ energy consumption structure in the study area is a combination of traditional biomass energy and commercial energy sources. Fuelwood is the most commonly used fuel in the study area, while modern energy sources only occupy a low proportion. Rural household energy consumption is influenced by various factors. Individual perceptions of climate change, social trust and networks, and households’ socio-economic and demographic factors (gender, age, education, income per capita, household size, household location, and number of household appliances) are identified as having significant effects on rural households’ consumption of biomass and commercial energies. The research results provide implications for policy makers to formulate related rural energy policies to improve the rural energy consumption structure and future energy policy design in China and other developing countries.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adger W, Huq S, Brown K, Conway D, Hulme M (2003) Adaptation to climate change in the developing world. Prog Dev Stud 3:179–195
Barnes DF, Plas RVD, Floor W (1997) Tackling the rural energy problem in developing countries. Financ Dev 6:11–15
Chen Q, Yang H, Liu T, Zhang L (2016) Household biomass energy choice and its policy implications on improving rural livelihoods in Sichuan, China. Energy Policy 91:291–302
Craig CA (2018) Residential support for energy efficiency by utility organizations in the Southeast US. J Clean Prod 177:89–100
Démurger S, Fournier M (2011) Poverty and firewood consumption: a case study of rural households in northern China. China Econ Rev 22:512–523
Ding Z, Wang G, Liu Z (2017) Research on differences in the factors influencing the energy-saving behavior of urban and rural residents in China-a case study of Jiangsu Province. Energy Policy 100:252–259
Ekholm T, Krey V, Pachauri S, Riahi K (2010) Determinants of household energy consumption in India. Energy Policy 38(10):5696–5707
Grootaert C, Narayan D, Jones VN, Woolcock M (2004) Measuring social capital: an integrated questionnaire. The World Bank, Washington DC
Guo Z, Zhou K, Zhang C, Lu X, Chen W, Yang S (2018) Residential electricity consumption behavior: influencing factors, related theories and intervention strategies. Renew Sust Energ Rev 81:399–412
Han H, Wu S, Zhang Z (2018) Factors underlying rural household energy transition: a case study of China. Energy Policy 114:234–244
Hisali E, Birungi P, Buyinza F (2011) Adaptation to climate change in Uganda: evidence from micro level data. Glob Environ Chang 21(4):1245–1261
Howells M, Alfstad T, Victor D, Goldstein G, Remme U (2005) A model of household energy services in a low-income rural African village. Energy Policy 33:1833–1851
IEA (2013) World energy outlook. International Energy Agency, Paris
Jones N, Evangelinos K, Iosifides T, Halvadakis CP, Sophoulis CM (2010) Social factors influencing perceptions and willingness to pay for a market-based policy aiming on solid waste management. Resour Conserv Recycl 54:533–540
Kowsari R, Zerriffi H (2011) Three dimensional energy profile: a conceptual framework for assessing household energy use. Energy Policy 39(12):7505–7517
Lange I, Moro M, Traynor L (2014) Green hypocrisy? Environmental attitudes and residential space heating expenditure. Ecol Econ 107(107):76–83
Liu W, Spaargaren G, Heerink N (2013) Energy consumption practices of rural households in north China: basic characteristics and potential for low carbon development. Energy Policy 55:128–138
Matsumoto S, Omata Y (2017) Consumer valuations of energy efficiency investments: the case of Vietnam’s air conditioner market. J Clean Prod 142:4001–4010
McCalley LT (2006) From motivation and cognition theories to everyday applications and back again: the case of product-integrated information and feedback. Energy Policy 34(2):129–137
Nansaior A, Patanothai A, Rambo AT (2013) The sustainability of biomass energy acquisition by households in urbanizing communities in Northeast Thailand. Biomass Bioenergy 52(52):113–121
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) (2016) China energy statistical yearbook. China Statistics Press, Beijing
Pachauri S, Jiang L (2008) The household energy transition in India and China. Energy Policy 36(11):4022–4035
Peng W, Hisham Z, Pan J (2010) Household level fuel switching in rural Hubei. Energy Sustain Dev 14:238–244
Petzold J, Ratter MWB (2015) Climate change adaptation under a social capital approach—an analytical framework for small islands. Ocean Coast Manag 112:36–43
Pretty J (2003) Social capital and the collective management of resources. Science 302:1912–1914
San V, Sriv T, Spoann V, Var S, Seak S (2012) Economic and environmental costs of rural household energy consumption structures in sameakki meanchey district, Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia. Energy 48(1):484–491
Sapci O, Considine T (2014) The link between environmental attitudes and energy consumption behavior. J Behav Exp Econ 52:29–34
Sonderskov KM (2011) Explaining large-N cooperation: generalized social trust and the social exchange heuristic. Ration Soc 23(1):51–74
Song C, Bilsborrow R, Jagger P, Zhang Q, Chen X, Huang Q (2018) Rural household energy use and its determinants in China: how important are influences of payment for ecosystem services vs. other factors? Ecol Econ 145:148–159
StataCorp (2013) Stata statistical software: Release 13. College Station, USA
Uslaner EM, Conley RS (2003) Civic engagement and particularized trust. Am Politics Res 31(4):331–360
Venkataraman C, Habib G, Eiguren-Fernandez A (2005) Residential biofuels in South Asia: carbonaceous aerosol emissions and climate impacts. Science 307(5714):1454–1456
Volland B (2017) The role of risk and trust attitudes in explaining residential energy demand: evidence from the United Kingdom. Ecol Econ 132:14–30
Wang R, Jiang Z (2017) Energy consumption in China’s rural areas: a study based on the village energy survey. J Clean Prod 143:452–461
Wang X, Li K, Li H (2017) Research on China’s rural household energy consumption-household investigation of typical counties in 8 economic zones. Renew Sust Energ Rev 68:28–32
Woolcock M, Narayan D (2000) Social capital: implications for development theory, research, and policy. World Bank Res Obs 15:225–249
Yu Y, Guo J (2016) Identifying electricity-saving potential in rural China: empirical evidence from a household survey. Energy Policy 94:1–9
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41671170, 41771192).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jin, J., He, R., Kuang, F. et al. Different sources of rural household energy consumption and influencing factors in Dazu, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 21312–21320 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05439-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05439-w