Unclean but Affordable Solid Fuels Effectively Sustained Household Energy Equity

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2024 Nov 11

PMID 39528466

Authors

Ke Jiang

Ran Xing

Zhihan Luo

Yaojie Li

Jinghang Wang

Wenxiao Zhang

Yaqi Zhu

Yatai Men

Guofeng Shen

Shu Tao

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Extensive use of traditional solid fuels necessitates a clean transition to modern energy, yet rising costs hinder equitable progress, presenting a challenge that remains underexplored. Here we quantify household energy inequities in China and evaluate shifts during the cooking and heating transition by compiling data from nationwide questionnaire surveys and statistic datasets. We find that by meeting 42.6% of household energy needs at low costs, solid fuels sustain equitable energy consumption across different income groups, being measured by the Concentration Index (CI). However, energy burden inequity remains substantially with the CI value increases by up to 43% during the transition, particularly when moving away from biomass for cooking. Switching to electric heating with natural gas cooking would limit such increases by only 15.5%. The study underscores the negative equity impacts of solid fuel cessation, advocating for phased transitions and targeted subsidies to ensure a just clean energy transition.

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