Education Empowers Residential Energy Transition: Causal Evidence from Compulsory Schooling Reform in China

Ensuring access to modern energy for all is a fundamental aim of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). Whereas education is often considered important in supporting the energy transition, there is limited empirical evidence to confirm this causal relationship. Using microdata from the 2010 census, this study investigates the causal impact of education on the adoption of clean cooking fuels in rural China. To address the challenge of endogeneity, an instrumental variable (IV) approach was adopted, based on the enactment of compulsory schooling laws (CSLs) in China. Individuals’ educational choices are driven by their exposure to these CSLs, which vary across cohorts and provincial regions. The results show that an additional year of schooling significantly reduces biomass use by 6.1% and increases the adoption of clean fuels by 5.9%. The positive impact of education is more pronounced in less developed regions. These findings suggest that strengthening education can be a crucial policy tool for mitigating air pollution, particularly in developing countries.