Using Characteristic Energy to Study Rural Ethnic Minorities’ Household Energy Consumption and Its Impact Factors in Chongqing, China

Shuxin Mao, Sha Qiu, Tao Li, Mingfang Tang, Hongbing Deng and Hua Zheng
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Shuxin Mao: School of Economics and Management, Shaanxi University of Science &Technology, Xi’an 712000, China
Sha Qiu: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Tao Li: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Mingfang Tang: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Hongbing Deng: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Hua Zheng: State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 17, 1-14

Abstract: In the context of general household energy transition, identifying different household energy consumption patterns is of great significance for the formulation of refined energy conservation and emission reduction policies. For historical reasons, the households of ethnic minorities in China tend to face more severe energy poverty problems. In this study, we proposed the concept and research method of characteristic energy, a new method to depict household energy use pattern. Combined with the diversity analysis, the energy use pattern of Tujia and Miao rural households in Chongqing, China, were studied. Households in research area were clustered into four groups with different characteristic energy sources: firewood, electricity, coal and gasoline, representing four types of household energy use pattern. The main impact factors of rural household energy use pattern are electrical appliances and amount of pig raising, indicating that household production and lifestyle play a decisive role in household energy use patterns. In addition, the research depicts the energy consumption characteristics of rural households with different incomes, ethnic groups and in different regions. The study puts forward corresponding energy saving countermeasures for different energy use pattern, helps to identify the heterogeneity of rural household energy use and promote the formulation of refined regional energy conservation and emission reduction policies.

Keywords: energy use pattern; characteristic energy; rural household; refined management; energy conservation and emission production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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