Three dimensional energy profile:: A conceptual framework for assessing household energy use

Effect of fuelwood scarcity and socio-economic factors on household bio-based energy use and energy substitution in rural Ethiopia

Introduction: Household energy transition is the key to changing and upgrading China’s energy consumption pattern. Directly using traditional biomass fuels is not only one of the reasons why the opportunity between urban and rural areas is inequality but also a critical symbol of the inequality of energy consumption within rural areas. Method: This study investigates the association between two information acquisition mechanisms, namely, Internet use and social interaction, and rural household energy transition, using CGSS 2015. After converting the consumption of each fuel to standard coal, according to the energy ladder theory, this study classifies the main types of household energy into three categories: primitive fuels, transition fuels, and advanced fuels. Then this study uses the ordered probit model to empirically analyze 1023 rural household samples in China. Results: The results show that, compared to rural households that never use the Internet, an increase in the frequency of Internet use significantly enhances the probability of rural households using advanced fuels, while decreasing the probability of using primitive and transition fuels simultaneously. However, the effect direction of social interaction works is the opposite of Internet use completely. The intrinsic mechanism result shows that although social interaction reduces the strength of the role of Internet use in rural household energy transition, it has not yet completely offset the positive effect of Internet use on the rural household energy transition. Discussion: The results of this study provide references for removing the blocking barriers to contact and use of the Internet by rural residents, improving the perceived quality of obtained information through social interaction, and solidly promoting rural energy transition and sustainable development of resources and the environment.

There are obvious differences in rural household energy consumption, which vary according to the location of the households. At the village level, geographic factors significantly influence household energy choices and consumption. Therefore, it is vital to research differences in rural energy use among different types of villages to pertinently strengthen the implementation of rural energy policy and to correctly adjust the measures for local conditions. For this study, typical villages were selected, and the related data were obtained by using questionnaire surveys and household interviews. We investigated the differences among villages regarding rural household energy consumption for mountainous, semi-mountainous, and plains areas in the Loess hilly region of Gansu Province. The results indicate obvious differences in rural household energy consumption among the different types of villages, although they shared the distinctive feature of utilizing a combination of energy sources; however, the level of rural household energy consumption is relatively low. In the mountainous areas, households mainly depend on straw and use coal, animal manure, solar energy, wood, and bio-gas as auxiliary energy sources. In the semi-mountainous areas, households mainly depend on coal and use straw, wood, and solar energy as auxiliary energy sources. In the plains areas, households mainly depend on coal and use grass, straw, solar energy, and wood as auxiliary energy sources. Energy used for cooking and heating, both of which are required for basic survival, accounted for most of the energy consumption. In the hilly, mountainous areas, households relied on kangs (an integrated system for cooking, sleeping, household heating, and ventilation) for heat in the winter. In the semi-mountainous areas, households used both kangs and stoves for heat. In the plains along the river district, households primarily depended on stoves for heat. The characteristics of energy combination provide the evidence that farmers tend to make full use of their own resources to achieve maximum utility. Eco-environmental and economic problems should both be considered and consequently resolved together for optimal rural energy development.

Rural Household Energy Use and Its Determinants in China: How Important Are Influences of Payment for Ecosystem Services vs. Other Factors?

Rural household energy consumption is critical for advancing sustainable development and achieving low‐carbon energy systems. Despite various policy efforts to promote clean energy adoption, traditional energy sources remain prevalent in rural areas. This study investigates how household resource endowments and energy accessibility influence the adoption and consumption of clean energy in rural households. Using data from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) survey, a Tobit model is employed to analyze how social, economic, and human assets, along with proximity to clean energy supply points, impact both the level and structure of clean energy consumption. The findings indicate that high levels of human and economic assets significantly promote clean energy adoption, with educated households and those engaged in non‐agricultural employment more likely to adopt clean energy and incur lower associated costs. Furthermore, proximity to clean energy supply points is positively correlated with both clean energy consumption level and its share in total energy expenditure. A notable “low‐cost high‐quality” phenomenon emerges, where households using advanced clean energy sources experience lower costs compared to those relying on traditional energy. The results highlight the importance of improving energy accessibility, promoting education, and leveraging social assets to support clean energy adoption. Policy recommendations include enhancing rural energy infrastructure, increasing awareness, and addressing technical and financial barriers to facilitate the clean energy transition. These measures will contribute to sustainable rural development and environmental preservation.

Over the last two decades, the residential building sector has been one of the largest energy consumption sectors in New Zealand. The relationship between that sector and household energy consumption should be carefully studied in order to optimize the energy consumption structure and satisfy energy demands. Researchers have made efforts in this field; however, few have concentrated on the association between household energy use and the cost of residential buildings. This study examined the correlation between household energy use and residential building cost. Analysis of the data indicates that they are significantly correlated. Hence, this study proposes time series methods, including the exponential smoothing method and the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model for forecasting residential building costs of five categories of residential buildings (one-storey house, two-storey house, townhouse, residential apartment and retirement village building) in New Zealand. Moreover, the artificial neutral networks (ANNs) model was used to forecast the future usage of three types of household energy (electricity, gas and petrol) using the residential building costs. The t-test was used to validate the effectiveness of the obtained ANN models. The results indicate that the ANN models can generate acceptable forecasts. The primary contributions of this paper are twofold: (1) Identify the close correlation between household energy use and residential building costs; (2) provide a new clue for optimizing energy management.

Inter-regional environmental inequality under lasting pandemic exacerbated by residential response

Urban residential energy switching in China between 1980 and 2014 prevents 2.2 million premature deaths

From cookstoves to cooking systems: the integrated program on sustainable household energy use in Mexico

Residential energy policies for individual dwellings predominantly provide minimum design standards for thermal performance and energy efficiency on a square metre basis. This paper quantifies predicted dwelling energy use on a national scale to enable evaluation of the effectiveness of this policy model. Utilizing Australia as a case study, analysis of 580,956 thermal energy design certificates for new detached dwellings verifies that, although minimum energy efficiency design standards were achieved, predicted energy use for thermal comfort increased by 10.4% per dwelling and 5.6% nationally in 2022 compared to 2018. The study examines the impact of both the number and floor area of new dwellings on dwelling energy use and highlights the disparate jurisdictional outcomes resulting from inconsistent implementation of national policy across multi-state governance. To deliver reductions in household energy use it is imperative that residential energy policies target household energy use, rather than only energy efficiency, of new dwellings, of which floor area is a key determinant. Furthermore, to achieve global climate change objectives, there is a need for complementary policy mechanisms that consider the collective energy use of the residential dwelling sector.

• BACKGROUND AND AIM With people in developed countries spending 70% of their time at home, the impact of the built environment on human health is vital. Although there has been ample epidemiological evidence on the relationship between high/low outdoor temperature exposures and adverse health impacts, there is a paucity of research investigating how residential characteristics and human behaviours might affect temperature-related health risks. This research aims to fill this gap. • METHODS A health risk matrix was obtained by applying a four-stage spatiotemporal health risk assessment framework (comprising hazard identification, exposure assessment, exposure-response assessment and risk characterization) to estimate the temperature-cardiovascular mortality relationship in Greater Taipei, Taiwan, using paired observations of outdoor-indoor temperatures and PM2.5 concentrations in dwellings. • RESULTS Residential characteristics and household energy use acted as moderators, and indoor temperature functioned as a mediator in the temperature-mortality relationship. A three-dimensional matrix projected outdoor temperature, human vulnerability and dwelling type along three axes to visualise the cardiovascular mortality risk. Human vulnerability represents the interaction between outdoor temperature and household energy use. By multiplying the risk levels (1-3) of each of the three axes, a total of 27 levels of health risk are obtained. • CONCLUSIONS This study encourages carefully-planned climate change mitigations and adaptations to achieve healthier indoor environments: (1) Strategies for reducing temperature-related cardiovascular mortality should incorporate the energy use for heating/cooling, which may affect human vulnerability and be affected by the household income, prevalence of air conditioning systems, green area, and population rate of older people. (2) Building retrofits for improving energy efficiency should carefully consider dwelling thermal types, which may vary with occupants’ behaviours and cause unintended health consequences when indoor temperature closely follows outdoor temperature and makes dwellings overheat or excessively cold. • KEYWORDS Health risk assessment, Health matrix, Temperature-related mortality, Dwellings, Human behaviours

Labor mobility and clean energy use: Evidence from rural households in China

Rural residential energy transition and energy consumption intensity in China

Improved stoves, electricity, water and floor for better health in Peruvian rural households: An approximation

Lifestyle change and energy use in Japan: Household equipment and energy consumption