The Estimating Cooking and Space Heating Energy Consumption for Rural Area in Northern Part of China

Abstract

A large amount of energy is expended for heating in Northern China, especially in rural areas, to keep out the bitter cold in the long winter season. The amount of energy necessary for heating must have been correctly estimated before total heating energy consumption can be reduced. However, it is difficult to estimate accurately each of cooking and heating energy consumptions of rural households in China; they mainly use one of traditional types of stoves called Kang and Zilu both for cooking and heating. The objective of this study is to provide descriptive information on cooking and heating energy consumptions of rural households living in three provinces in Northern China. To achieve this objective, we conducted a questionnaire survey on energy consumption and collected the answers from the responders to estimate only the cooking energy consumption for each household. Our study shows noteworthy results in that the approximate annual total of energy consumption could be estimated for each of cooking and heating energy consumptions. However, unlike in developed countries, no correlation was observed between the heating energy consumptions and the floor spaces in these rural households.