Alternative Energy Development in Rural Chinese Communities

This chapter explores alternative energy development in rural Chinese communities. Access to energy has been a critical issue for rural communities and local industry development, especially in remote mountainous regions due to inconsistent power supply, lack of modern energy services and supporting infrastructures. The rural poor are often disproportionately dependent on fuel wood and solid biomass, causing environmental degradation, reduced productivity and the eventual discount of income generating opportunities. While the United Nations declared 2012 to be the ‘International Year of Sustainable Energy for All’, previous case studies reveal that socio-economic growth is driven by the bundle of useful energy works and service systems rather than by simple raw energy input. The chapter provides the backdrop of world energy access and Chinese renewable energy situations, with a literature review concerning the inter-relationship of energy, poverty and development. The fieldwork in China’s mountainous regions exposed practical challenges for rural development starting from basic energy service delivery to poverty alleviation. Finally, the chapter proposes to deepen the current framework for energy development in the rural context, addressing energy, poverty, and development issues with synergistic green entrepreneurship and business models to improve community livelihood and social capitals.