Author: Jane Golley

While it seems obvious that households in China with higher incomes will emit more – both directly through their consumption of coal, gas, petrol and electricity, and indirectly through their consumption of other goods, all of which require energy in their production processes – it is less obvious whether rich households will be more or less “emissions-intensive”, that is, emitting more or less carbon per yuan spent. My chapter with Dominic Meagher and Meng Xin in the China Update this year investigates variations in energy requirements and carbon emissions across urban households with different income levels. We find that poorer households are more emissions-intensive and that this is mainly due to their relatively high levels of coal consumption, the least “green” form of energy.

In terms of China’s future emissions trends, policymakers need to find ways to reduce the coal dependence of poorer urban, and presumably most rural, households. Income growth may partially solve the problem, given that richer households tend to consume less coal. However, appropriate investments and infrastructure will also need to be directed towards cleaner energy alternatives in the near future. See chapter for further details.