Energy consumption in rural China: A household model for three villages in Jiangxi Province

In China, fuelwood and coal are the most important energy sources for rural households in poor areas. Along with population and economic growth, excessive fuelwood collection is a major cause of deforestation. Burning coal contributes to environmental problems such as air pollution, acid rain and greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this article is to analyze factors determining choice of energy source and labor input into fuelwood collection in poor, forest-rich regions, and to provide policy recommendations on ways to affect these choices. To this end, a nonseparable household model, reflecting choices in labor allocation and energy demand of rural households, is estimated from available data for three villages in a poor, forest-rich region in Jiangxi Province, Southeast China. Innovative aspects of this article are the analyses of factors driving household substitution between forest and non-forest fuels and of dissimilarities in household responses under different market access conditions.