Exploring a low carbon development in rural China The role of households Wenling Liu Thesis committee Promoters Prof.dr.ir. A.P.J. Mol Professor of Environmental Policy Wageningen University Prof.dr.ir. G. Spaargaren Professor of Environmental Policy for Sustainable Lifestyles and Consumption Wageningen University Co-promoter Dr. N.B.M. Heerink Associate professor, Development Economics Group Wageningen University Other members Prof.dr. C. Kroeze, Wageningen University Prof.dr.ir. C. Leeuwis, Wageningen University Dr.ir. G.P.J. Verbong, Technical University Eindhoven, the Netherlands Prof.dr. Y. Wei, School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, China Exploring a low carbon development in rural China The role of households Wenling Liu Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor at Wageningen University by the authority of the Rector Magnificus Prof. Dr. M.J. Kropff, in the presence of the Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board to be defended in public on Monday 27 May 2013 at 4 p.m. in the Aula. Wenling Liu Exploring a low carbon development in rural China: the role of households 168 pages PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL (2013) With references, with summaries in English and Dutch ISBN: 978-94-6173-553-9 Preface This dissertation results from PhD research conducted within the framework of the SURE (SUstainable Natural REsource Use in Rural China) project, which is funded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and the Chinese Ministry of Sciences and Technology (MoST). I would like to express my gratitude for their financial support. I am also grateful to Wageningen University for enabling my studies abroad. This work benefited from the support of many people and organizations. My special thanks go to my promoters prof. Arthur P.J. Mol, Chair of the Environmental Policy group and prof. Gert Spaargaren of ENP at Wageningen University, for their invaluable advice, guidance, encouragement and persistent support from the initial to the final stage of conducting this research. This work would not have come into being without their dedication. They were always patient to guide my research and comment on the papers, even though they may have to spend the weekend and evening time on that. I feel so lucky to be the student of them. They have coached me not only with respect to how to conduct this study, but also inspired me with their enthusiasm devoted to doing social science research. My sincere gratitude also goes to my co-promoter dr. Nico Heerink of the Development Economics group at Wageningen University. His extensive knowledge and in-depth insight about Chinese rural development were reflected by his constructive and critical comments that have helped a lot for improving the questionnaire design and the implementation of the field survey. I am heartily thankful to my local supervisor prof. Can Wang, Chair of the Department of Environmental Planning and Management, School of Environment, Tsinghua University. His invaluable advice, guidance and support enabled the implementation of several field surveys and the accomplishment of the thesis. He has led me to the field of energy and climate change research and also provided valuable suggestions for my future research career. I highly appreciate the support of prof. Jining Chen, President of Tsinghua University. I would not have come to the Netherlands for this study without his recommendation. A special gratitude also goes to dr. Yi Liu at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University, for his helpful arrangements and suggestions during my studies. I would like to express my thanks to the SURE project coordinator dr. Bettina Bluemling, for her constant guidance, comments and encouragement. Especially with regard i to the field work in China, she always provided useful advice and support. I own many thanks to Corry Rothuizen, who has coordinated so many details in relation to my period of living and working in Wageningen. She has made my life in Wageningen during the past three years much easier. Working at the Environmental Policy group is not only an important step for my academic career, but also a good memory in my personal life. I really enjoyed working there with my colleagues. I appreciate the encouragement and support from my colleagues: Dorien Korbee, Natapol Thongplew, Joeri Naus, Ching Kim, Sammy Letema, Eira Carballo Cárdenas, Hilde Toonen, Marjanneke Vijge, Alice Miller, Radhika Borde, Harry Barnes Dabban, Jennifer Lenhart, Judith Floor, Nguyen Dung, Somjai Nupueng, Thomas Nugroho, Carolina Maciel, Tung Son Than and Alexey Pristupa. I am happy to have shared such a good time with them that it is worth being treasured forever. Special thanks to Joeri for the Dutch translation of the abstract of my thesis. I would like to express my thanks to all my Chinese friends in the Netherlands, Chaohui Zheng, Dan Liang, Guizhen He, Jia Li, Jing Wu, Jing Lu, Jinyun Zhang, Lei Zhang, Qin Tu, Shumin Yu, Shuqin Jin, Xianlei Ma, Xiaoyun Bing, Yan Feng, Yan Wu, Yuan Li. Their company made my life abroad less lonely and more interesting. I own many thanks to all my colleagues in Tsinghua University. Special thank goes to my dear friend and colleague dr. Wenjia Cai, who has always helped me with useful advices on the research, encouragement and guidance. I greatly appreciate her company over the years. I am greatly indebted to my beloved husband Zhefei, my parents and my brother, for their persistent love, care, understanding and encouragement throughout the study. Beijing, April 2013 ii Contents Lists of Figures, Tables and Appendices vi Abbreviations ix Chapter 1. Introduction 2 1.1. General background 2 1.1.1. China's energy and climate change policies 2 1.1.2. Rural energy consumption 6 1.2. Ecological modernization as general theoretical perspective 8 1.3. Sustainable consumption theories-A conceptual framework 12 1.3.1. Sustainable consumption theories 12 1.3.2. Using the practice model to analyze energy consumption in rural China 18 1.4. Research questions 19 1.5. Research setting and methods 20 1.6. Structure of the thesis 23 Chapter 2. Rural residential CO2 emissions in China: where is the major mitigation potential? 27 2.1. Introduction 27 2.2. Overview of rural residential energy consumption 29 2.2.1. Rural residential energy use 29 2.2.2. Related rural energy policies 33 2.3. Accounting methodologies 34 2.3.1. Data sources 34 2.3.2. CO2 emission accounting for commercial energy 35 2.3.3. CO2 emission accounting for traditional biomass combustion 37 2.4. Differentiated rural CO2 emissions from energy 39 2.4.1. A comparison with urban residential carbon emission 39 2.4.2. Internal structure of rural emissions 41 2.5. Policy options 44 2.6. Conclusion 46 iii Chapter 3. Rural public acceptance of renewable energy deployment: the case of Shandong in China 49 3.1. Introduction 49 3.2. Renewable energy and electricity price in rural areas of China 52 3.3. Methodology 54 3.3.1. Theoretical framework 54 3.3.2. Outline of the questionnaire and evaluation of variables 56 3.3.3. Study area and samples 58 3.4. Results discussion 60 3.4.1. Knowledge, belief and attitude of consumers 60 3.4.2. Determinants of ‘willingness to pay’ 63 3.4.3. Participation intention of local residents and policy demand 66 3.5. Concluding remarks 68 Chapter 4. Energy consumption practices of rural households in north China: basic characteristics and potential for low carbon development 73 4.1. Introduction 73 4.2. Conceptual framework and research methodology 75 4.2.1. The concept of a low carbon rural development 75 4.2.2. The social practices model for studying domestic energy consumption 76 4.2.3. Selection of the rural areas and the respondents 78 4.2.4. Methods to calculate the CO2 emissions 79 4.2.5. Estimation of electricity consumption for different energy use practices 80 4.3. Domestic energy consumption: the general picture 83 4.4. Rural domestic energy practices and their relation with the low carbon transition 87 4.4.1. Domestic energy use practices and carbon emissions 87 4.4.2. Lifestyle-factors and their contribution to the low carbon transition 91 4.4.3. Local energy provision systems and the low carbon transition 93 4.5. Conclusion and policy recommendations 95 Chapter 5. Low carbon rural housing provision in China: participation and decision making 101 5.1. Introduction 101 5.2. The background of rural housing in China 103 iv 5.3. Analytical framework and methodology 106 5.3.1. Analytical framework 106 5.3.2. Methodology: selection of case study areas and data collection 110 5.4. Empirical case study results 112 5.4.1. State or government led housing provision 112 5.4.2. Public-private joint venture scheme of housing provision 115 5.4.3. Private sector housing provision 118 5.4.4. Comparison of the case studies 121 5.5. Discussion and conclusion 122 Chapter 6. Conclusion 129 6.1. Introduction 129 6.2. Climate impacts of rural residential energy consumption 131 6.3. Local perceptions on a low carbon future 134 6.4. Transitional household energy use practices 135 6.5. Modernizing systems of provision 138 6.6. Energy dynamics and implications for future research 141 Appendices 145 Summary 161 Samenvatting 165 About the Author 169 v Lists of Figures, Tables and Appendices List of Figures Figure 1.1 CO2 emission and emission intensities of the top ten emitting countries in 2009 2 Figure 1.2 China’s GDP growth and national energy consumption 2 Figure 1.3 Energy consumption by different sectors