『Abstract
We conducted surveys in 19 villages on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau
to explore the social and ecological effects of household biomass
utilization and local people's willingness to use clean energy.
Results showed that biomass was commonly used on this plateau.
During combustion generated heavy indoor smoke in pastoral regions.
Women were main dung collectors, who spent 1.8 h per day on dung
collection. Crop residues and firewood were mainly collected by
adults Most respondents would like to rest while few chose to
entertain or study when the time for biomass collection was saved.
Tree numbers decreased in agricultural regions and grasslands
deteriorated in pastoral regions recently according to most respondents.
There were significant differences in the willingness to use modern
energy, but no significant difference in the willingness to use
clean energy among households from regions with different livelihoods.
Almost all the respondents would like to use clean energy when
there was no economic constraint but paid no attention to the
environmental impact of fuel choice. Livelihood and region were
main determinants in modern energy utilization, and energy price
was the main determinant of fuel choice. Future energy development
should focus on finding new ways to utilize biomass and exploring
renewable energy.
Keywords: Biomass utilization; Renewable energy; Willingness』
1. Introduction
2. Methods
2.1. Study area
2.2. Data collection
2.3. Data analyses
3. Results
3.1. Social effects of biomass combustion among different
regions
3.2. Ecological effects of biomass combustion among different
regions
3.3. Willingness to use energy types among different regions
3.4. The determinants of willingness to use energy type
4. Discussion and policy implication
4.1. Social and ecological effects of biomass utilization
4.2. Willingness to use energy type and determinants of energy
choice
4.3. Policy implication
Acknowledgments
References