Greening China's rural energy: new insights on the potential of smallholder biogas

Environment and Development Economics - Tập 19 Số 1 - Trang 8-29 - 2014
Luc Christiaensen1, Rasmus Heltberg2
1Office of the Chief Economist, Africa Region, The World Bank, 1818 H street, NW. E-mail:
2The World Bank, Washington, DC, USA. E-mail:

Tóm tắt

AbstractThis study assesses a new generation of smallholder biogas, an applied sustainable energy technology currently being rolled out on a massive scale in rural China. In the past, the implementation of biogas programs has been largely disappointing, in China (and elsewhere). User satisfaction with the new program is high, based on purposively collected data from 2,700 households in five provinces, and the available evidence suggests tangible environmental and economic benefits. There are strong indications of fuel switching away from fuelwood and crop residues. Less time is spent on fuelwood collection and cooking, which benefits women especially. Adopters save on fertilizers by using biogas residues. Finally, problems with suspension and interrupted supply appear lower than in earlier studies. Overall, these initial findings are grounds for optimism about the potential for scaled-up smallholder biogas to deliver safe and clean rural energy, in China and beyond, provided critical conditions are met.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

World Bank (2007), World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development, Washington, DC: World Bank.

Zheng Y. , Y. Minying , and S. Zhen (undated), ‘Rural energy policy in China’, Research Group of Energy Policy, Institute of Quantitative and Technical Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, [Available at] http://iis-db. stanford.edu/evnts/3920/ZHENG_paper.pdf.

10.1136/thorax.55.6.518

10.1016/j.eneco.2004.04.018

10.1289/ehp.01109481

Ho, 2005, Biogas bonanza for third world development, Science in Society, 27, 26

10.1016/j.enpol.2009.03.018

Angrist, 2008, Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion, 10.2307/j.ctvcm4j72

Chen, 2010a, An assessment of the availability of household biogas resources in rural China, International Journal of Energy and Environment, 1, 783

10.2307/3147225

Duflo, 2008, Indoor Air Pollution, Health and Economic Well-being, 10.5194/sapiens-1-1-2008

Köhlin G. , E.O. Sills , S.K. Pattanayak , and C. Wilfong (2011), ‘Energy, gender and development: what are the linkages? Where is the Evidence?’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5800, World Bank, Washington, DC.

10.1016/j.rser.2009.05.002

Cooke-St. Clair, 2008, Fuelwood, forests and community management – evidence from household studies, Environment and Development Economics, 13, 103, 10.1017/S1355770X0700397X

10.1017/S1355770X04001858

Reuters News (2011), ‘China's corn rush to redraw global food landscape’, Reuters News, 3 October 2011.

World Bank (2008), ‘Project appraisal document on two proposed loans in the total amount of US$120.0 million to the People's Republic of China for an Eco-farming Project’, Report No. 39781-CN, World Bank, Washington, DC.

10.1016/j.rser.2009.07.019

10.1016/S0304-4076(99)00044-5

World Health Organization (2007), Indoor Air Pollution: National Burden of Disease Estimates, Geneva: WHO.

Rehfuess, 2011, Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, 5

10.1289/ehp.9479

10.1016/j.renene.2004.05.011

Christiaensen L. (2012), ‘The role of agriculture in a modernizing society – food, farms and fields in China 2030’, Sustainable Development East Asia and Pacific Discussion Paper, World Bank, Washington, DC.

Hsiao, 1986, Analysis of Panel Data

10.1016/j.chieco.2011.07.002

10.1007/s11157-009-9148-0

10.1504/IJGEI.2004.004691

Pitt M. , M. Rosenzweig , and N. Hassan (2010), Short- and Long-Term Health Effects of Burning Biomass in the Home in Low-Income Countries (mimeo), [Available at] http://www.brown.edu/research/projects/pitt/sites/brown.edu.research. projects.pitt/files/uploads/iapchild7.pdf.

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Environment and Development Economics

Tập 19 Số 1

8-29

Thông tin tác giả