As the largest coal consumer in the world, China is bothered by severe air pollutants emitted from coal combustion. Along with the regulation of industrial emission, emission from household coal use outstands in the contribution to air pollution. Policies addressing household coal use are issued, but their effects on coal use and social welfare are not clear yet. The policies include mandatory shifting coal heating to gas or electricity heating and heavy subsidy on coal of high quality. Therefore, for the purpose of effectively and efficiently shifting households in China from coal, the black energy, to greener energy, it is important to investigate household coal consumption behavior, understand their preferences on energy using, and evaluate the current coal-reducing polices.
This project aims to investigate the coal consumption behavior of households in China, and analyze the effects of coal-reducing policies on coal consumption and social welfare. The project’s purposes include: (1) collecting data on coal consumption and demographic characteristics of households in China; (2) identifying the factors that affect households’ coal consumption behavior; (3) estimating the effects of coal-reducing policies on households’ consumption of coal and other substitute energy, such as gas and electricity; (4) simulating the policies’ effect on social welfare and identifying the policy that maximizes social welfare.
