School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China.
Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019 Aug;26(23):24050-24061. doi: 10.1007/s11356-019-05216-9. Epub 2019 Jun 21.
Household air pollution caused by solid fuel use for cooking is prevalent in rural China and generates various environmental and health problems. Various potential impact factors on cooking fuel decision such as income, education, modern energy, and infrastructure are examined. However, the role of family structures has been ignored. A survey on household energy consumption pattern interrelating socio-economic and demographic factors was conducted in ten villages in Northern China using stratified random sampling technique. The number of family member eating together influences households' cooking fuel decision-making significantly. The numbers of school-age children and family members under 6 and above 60 years old have no significant influence on the household's cooking fuel decision-making respectively. Compared with families with neither child nor the elderly, those with no child but at least an elderly member have 0.103 lower probability of choosing clean fuels as their primary cooking fuel. Hence, the elderly owns a heavyweight in the household fuel decision-making process in rural China, and the government should formulate policies more in line with the background of the times to deal with rural energy issues.
农村地区普遍存在因固体燃料烹饪导致的家庭空气污染，这引发了各种环境和健康问题。本研究考察了收入、教育、现代能源和基础设施等各种可能影响烹饪燃料决策的因素，但忽略了家庭结构的作用。本研究采用分层随机抽样技术，对中国北方的 10 个村庄的家庭能源消费模式与社会经济和人口因素之间的关系进行了调查。一起用餐的家庭成员数量显著影响家庭的烹饪燃料决策。学龄儿童的数量以及 6 岁以下和 60 岁以上家庭成员的数量对家庭的烹饪燃料决策没有显著影响。与没有孩子也没有老人的家庭相比，没有孩子但至少有一个老人的家庭选择清洁燃料作为主要烹饪燃料的概率低 0.103。因此，老年人在中国农村家庭燃料决策过程中拥有重要地位，政府应该制定更加符合时代背景的政策来解决农村能源问题。
