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Arid Land Geography ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (2): 294-304.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2022.172

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Household energy consumption in urban communities in Qinghai Plateau based on material flow: A case of Xining City

JIANG Lu1,2(),LIU Yanjuan1,SHI Xiaonan3,DING Bowenpeng4,CHEN Hongyu1   

  1. 1. Academy of Plateau Science and Sustainability of People’s Government of Qinghai Province & Beijing Normal University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China
    2. Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
    3. Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130102, Jilin, China
    4. College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China
  • Received:2022-04-29 Revised:2022-06-22 Online:2023-02-25 Published:2023-03-14

Abstract:

Under the background of the postindustrial and post-epidemic eras, the amount of energy consumed by households in urban areas continuously increases. Thus, households have become the main contributor to carbon emissions and large amounts of energy consumed. Accordingly, a study on household energy consumption plays a vital role in the construction of ecological civilization in China. Plateau cities are important custodians of ecological security, and Xining City is a representative of plateau cities. Therefore, we selected it as the research object of this study. We aimed to explore the characteristics and influencing factors of household energy consumption and to visualize the process of household energy consumption under different income conditions. We utilized 2021 survey data, mainly using household energy estimates and ordinary least squares regression models and constructing household energy flows. We found that: (1) The annual per capita energy consumption of urban households in Xining City is 461.57 kgce·a-1. (2) Regarding energy use, the per capita heating energy consumption of urban households in Xining City is 307.52 kgce·a-1, which is the main cause of the high energy consumption (66.62%), followed by the per capita energy consumption of kitchen equipment (74.56 kgce·a-1). Conversely, large household appliances are relatively few, and washing machines especially consume the lowest energy. (3) The total year-end household income is the core factor that affects the annual per capita energy consumption of households in Xining City, China. (4) The annual per capita energy consumption of high-income households is large, and the type of energy consumed varies. Additionally, as household income levels increase, the amount of energy consumed in heating households decreases. Finally, to effectively promote energy transition, we suggest the residents should enhance their awareness of renewable energy, and governments should increase the supply of clean energy for residents by constructing rooftop photovoltaics and laying natural gas pipelines. What is more, governments should also increase the energy-saving publicity for middle- and high-income groups to enhance residents’ awareness of independent energy conservation and must customize energy policies for local conditions.

Key words: household energy consumption, plateau towns, influencing factors, OLS model, Xining City