The role of renewable energy in reducing residential fossil energy-related CO2 emissions: Evidence from rural China

Rural areas are often overlooked in discussions of how best to achieve net zero CO2 emissions (CEs) by midcentury, thereby attaining one of the main goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. This is particularly the case for residential areas in rural areas, which in some countries account for a considerable proportion of the total population and thus domestic CEs. Using data from 29 provinces in China during the period of 2007-2018 and spatial regression models, this study investigates the relationship between rural renewable energy and residential fossil energy-related CEs. Over 500 million people currently reside in rural areas in China. The results indicate: (1) significant regional differences in rural renewable energy and residential CEs, as a result of a combination of environmental and socio-economic factors; (2) a negative association between rural residential CEs and uptake of solar water heaters and biogas digesters (a 1% increase in the use of solar water heaters is associated with a 0.3% decline in residential CEs); and (3) the importance of rural renewable energy, industrial upgrading, economic development, and technological innovation in indirectly influencing residential CEs, with spillover effects. These findings provide evidence for a relatively low-cost solution to the challenge of transitioning to net zero domestic CEs in rural areas in China and indeed more generally.