Regional differentiation of rural household biogas development and related driving factors in China

Lack of clean energy supply remains a challenge in China, particularly in rural areas with large population. Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of biomass is an efficient technology for energy strategy in China. This paper reviews the importance of household biogas in China and discusses the regional differentiation of rural household biogas (RHB), and related driving factors. Gray correlation analysis showed that regional differentiation of RHB exhibited the highest correlation degree with temperature (0.889), followed by raw materials, rural population, and levels of income and education. According to the total biogas production in China, the development regions of RHB was separated into Region 1, Region 2 and Region 3. The highest development level of RHB was found in Region 2 with a total biogas production of 1.2×1010 m3, accounting for 77.6% of the total TBP of China in 2012. Moreover, the RHB development levels in Region 1 and Region 3 were 1.84×109 and 1.69×109 m3, respectively. Basing on the results of regional differentiation of RHB and characteristic of the primary influence factors in different regions, this study proposes that RHB development must be further promoted by combining actual situation of different regions to avoid blind development.