Rural Household Energy Consumption in Jiangsu Province of China

Rural household energy consumption is an important component of the national total energy consumption. This has major implications for rural society, economy, and the environment. Jiangsu province is located in the economically developed coastal area, and assuming further social and economic development in its rural regions, commercial energy will become increasingly essential for rural households. By studying and analyzing change across time and region in southern, central and northern Jiangsu, we hope to contribute to the understanding of the change in rural household energy consumption in both China and the developing countries in general. Using questionnaires, household energy consumption and related problems were investigated in nine typical counties in Jiangsu province to show the large differences in the level of per capita rural household consumption and the structure of useful energy consumption in the typical areas. The current household consumption per capita is 396.93 kgce in a typical rural areas, with straw consumption contributing 38.73%, and electricity 32.96%. The structural differences of energy consumption and the percentage of commercial energy of useful heat in southern, central and northern Jiangsu were also investigated, as was the relationship between energy consumption and household net income. The study should help in building a balanced system of energy demand and supply and utilizeing biomass resources on a large scale.