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Solid fuels are still widely used in rural China though the living standard has improved greatly. Energy poverty is an obvious indicator of poverty, which has serious effects on economic development, environment, and health. In this paper, we conducted a detailed analysis on fuel choice and usage behavior of different end-use activities in rural residential energy consumption. Using 717 household observations from micro-survey data in two counties of Shandong and Hebei province in 2016, we find that biomass is the dominant fuel used for cooking among all energy sources despite of obvious decreasing trend in recent years, accounting for 44%. Clean energy used to cook increased markedly with a proportion of nearly 50%. Solar energy is an ordinary fuel used for water heating except for biomass. Almost 90% of households rely on coal for space heating in winter, and one-third of households have space heating for fewer than two months. Ownership of home appliances for basic needs is higher than that for hedonistic needs, and usage behaviors of some appliances are economical. Fuel accessibility of commercial energy have improved noticeably in rural areas, and the high proportion usage of biomass is affected by family income, usage habits, local resources, environmental recognition, education, and age. Since the negative effects of using solid fuels, it is urgent to cleanse biomass, develop new energy, and improve residents' cognition about the consequences of using solid fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2003, Brazil has striven to provide energy access to all, in rural areas, in an effort to economically empower the communities. Unpacking fuel stacking behaviour can shed light onto the speed of transition toward the exclusive use of advanced fuel types. This paper presents findings from surveys that were carried out with 14 non-electrified communities in a rural area of Rio Negro, Amazonas State, Brazil. We identify the fuel choice determinants in these communities using a multinomial logistic regression model and more generally discuss the validity and robustness of such models in the context of statistical validation and evaluation metrics. Specifically for the Amazonas communities considered in this study, the research showed that the fuel choice determinants are the age of household, the number of people at meals each day, the number of meals daily, the community, education of the household head, and the income level of the household. Moreover, given the Brazilian policies related to energy and sustainability, this region is not likely to reach the Sustainable Development Goals proposed by United Nations for 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve sustainable development, the world is experiencing a profound energy transition from traditional biomass through fossil fuel to clean and renewable energy. As women are the primary undertakers of cooking in developing countries, they are more vulnerable to household air pollution caused by solid fuel combustion. Although women can benefit from clean fuel switching for household cooking, its influence on women's health is still not well understood. Using the longitudinal data from China Family Panel Studies in 2014 and 2018, this study adopts panel data models to investigate the impact of household cooking fuel choice on women's health from multiple dimensions in China, including self-rated health, others-rated health, and instrumental activities of daily living, aiming at shedding light on energy transition and health improvement for developing countries. It is found that household cooking fuel switching from solid fuel to clean fuel improves women's self-rated and others-rated health but has no significant impact on women's abilities of independence in daily activities. Specifically, each level of household cooking fuel increases respondents' self-rated and others-rated health by 0.009 and 0.043, respectively. Moreover, further investigation of the impact of household cooking fuel switching on the health status of women from different groups found: (1) the health effect of clean cooking fuel switching on women aged 46 and above is more significant than that on women aged 45 and below, (2) there are significant differences between urban and rural areas in the impact of household cooking fuel switching on women's health, and (3) uneducated women benefit more than educated women from clean cooking fuel switching. Finally, this study provides some policy implications to promote the energy transition and improve women's health in China and other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]