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Characteristics and influencing factors of energy consumption in Chinese rural households

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Abstract

In the 14th Five-Year Plan, China clearly proposed to achieve carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutralization by 2060, which will be incorporated into the Ecological Civilization Construction. Therefore, it is particularly important to control the consumption of fossil energy in rural areas. Under this background, the paper is based on the filed survey data of rural households and uses the method of CLAD (the censored least absolute deviations) estimation of Tobit model to study the influencing factors and structural characteristics of rural households’ energy consumption. The results show that the consumption of traditional energy with low-quality takes a main proportion of total energy consumption in rural households, which is unreasonable and needs transforming urgently. Also, there is heterogeneity among regions. Family characteristics, family wealth, and energy conservation initiative have an impact on total energy consumption and different types of energy. Especially, households with high frequency of energy conservation behavior and strong policy perception will reduce the consumption of high-polluting firewood and increase the use of coal and electricity.

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Data availability

The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

CLAD:

The censored least absolute deviations

LPG:

Liquefied petroleum gas

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [grant numbers 71573015 and 71521002].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xiaowei Ma, Dandan Liu, Danni Chen, Mei Wang & Chuandong Li

  2. School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xiaowei Ma, Dandan Liu, Danni Chen, Mei Wang & Chuandong Li

  3. Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Economics and Environmental Management, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xiaowei Ma

  4. Sustainable Development Research Institute for Economy and Society of Beijing, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xiaowei Ma

Authors
  1. Xiaowei Ma
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  2. Dandan Liu
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  3. Danni Chen
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  4. Mei Wang
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  5. Chuandong Li
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Contributions

Conceptualization, M. X., L.D., C.D., W. M. and L. C.; methodology, M. X., L.D., C.D.; software, L.D., C.D.; formal analysis, C.D. and L.D.; investigation, L.D., C.D., and L. C.; writing—original Chinese draft preparation, L.D and C.D.; writing—English review and editing, L.D., M.X. and W.M.; supervision, M.X.; funding acquisition, M.X.

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Correspondence to Xiaowei Ma.

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Ma, X., Liu, D., Chen, D. et al. Characteristics and influencing factors of energy consumption in Chinese rural households. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 58161–58178 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19784-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19784-w

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