A Study On The Impact Of Air Pollution Control Policies On Clean Energy Use In Rural Households

Global warming has become a huge risk challenge for all mankind,and against this serious background,promoting clean energy transition as an important measure to promote global carbon emission reduction is gaining more and more attention from all over the world.At present,China’s rural population is large and the energy demand of rural households is huge,so it is significant to further promote the use of clean energy in rural households to improve the rural living environment and achieve the goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality".In general,air pollution control policies include accelerating the adjustment of energy structure and increasing the supply of clean energy,and there is a theoretical possibility to promote the use of clean energy in rural households.This study aims to investigate whether air pollution control policies have an impact on clean energy use in rural households and to clarify their pathways.In view of this,this study uses data from the China Family Panel Studies(CFPS)project to analyze the impact of air pollution control policies on the use of clean energy in rural households,using the "Ten Air Pollution Measures" policy as an example.The impact of air pollution control policies on clean energy use in rural households is analyzed using the data from the CFPS,and an instrumental variables approach is used to mitigate the endogeneity problem in the study to obtain accurate regression results.In addition,the study also discusses the differences in the impact of the air pollution policy on the clean energy use of rural households according to the different characteristics of their heads.On this basis,the mediating effects of clean energy production scale and non-farm employment on the use of clean energy by rural households are further investigated.In response to the above discussion,four conclusions were drawn as follows:First,71.32% of the rural households in the study sample have used clean energy,with 30.43% of the rural households choosing LPG as the main cooking energy source.Among the remaining 28.68% of rural households that use non-clean energy as the main cooking energy source,the highest percentage of firewood is 24.59%.Second,the "Atmosphere 10" policy significantly increases the likelihood of clean energy use among rural households.In addition,among the control variables,rural households with more years of education,married and better financial status tend to use clean energy;also,female gender,age and smaller household size are significantly associated with clean energy use in rural households,which laterally proves that when rural households pay more attention to the quality of life and the quality of environment,they tend to use clean energy to ensure the convenience of life and the cleanliness of the environment.Third,for rural households with different characteristicsThird,there are differences in the effects of the "Atmospheric Decree" policy on the use of clean energy for rural households with different characteristics.The regressions of the sample households according to the age and gender of the head of household find that the policy helps to promote the use of clean energy among older and male-headed households.Fourth,the scale of clean energy production and non-farm employment can play a bridging role in the impact of the Atmosphere 10 policy on clean energy use by rural households.Specifically,the implementation of the "Atmosphere 10" policy significantly increases the scale of clean energy production and the proportion of non-farm employment among rural households,while the increase in the scale of clean energy production and the proportion of non-farm employment significantly increases the likelihood of clean energy use among rural households.Based on these findings,this study argues that clean energy use by rural households should be promoted in the following three ways.First,we should strengthen the sound air pollution control policy and give full play to its guiding and regulatory role;second,we should build a joint intervention mechanism of multiple subjects to promote the transformation of domestic energy to green and clean,and actively demand the exploration of clean energy promotion methods led by the government and supplemented by multiple propaganda;third,we should improve farmers’ ability to be part-time,increase their income,and enhance rural households’ affordability of clean energy.