Using Characteristic Energy to Study Rural Ethnic Minorities’ Household Energy Consumption and Its Impact Factors in Chongqing, China

In the context of general household energy transition, identifying different household energy consumption patterns is of great significance for the formulation of refined energy conservation and emission reduction policies. For historical reasons, the households of ethnic minorities in China tend to face more severe energy poverty problems. In this study, we proposed the concept and research method of characteristic energy, a new method to depict household energy use pattern. Combined with the diversity analysis, the energy use pattern of Tujia and Miao rural households in Chongqing, China, were studied. Households in research area were clustered into four groups with different characteristic energy sources: firewood, electricity, coal and gasoline, representing four types of household energy use pattern. The main impact factors of rural household energy use pattern are electrical appliances and amount of pig raising, indicating that household production and lifestyle play a decisive role in household energy use patterns. In addition, the research depicts the energy consumption characteristics of rural households with different incomes, ethnic groups and in different regions. The study puts forward corresponding energy saving countermeasures for different energy use pattern, helps to identify the heterogeneity of rural household energy use and promote the formulation of refined regional energy conservation and emission reduction policies.