Impacts of residential energy consumption on the health burden of household air pollution: Evidence from 135 countries

• Published in: Energy policy 2019-05, Vol.128, p.284-295
• Main Authors: Wang, Qiang, Kwan, Mei-Po, Zhou, Kan, Fan, Jie, Wang, Yafei, Zhan, Dongsheng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution; Burden from household air pollution; Coal; Electricity; Energy consumption; Energy policy; Energy transition; Households; Indoor air pollution; Indoor air quality; Indoor environments; Liquefied natural gas; Liquefied petroleum gas; Low income groups; Natural gas; Petroleum; Pollution; Reduction; Residential energy; Residential energy consumption; Spatial regression models; Statistical analysis
• ISSN: 0301-4215; 1873-6777
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.12.037

Knowledge about the links between burden from household air pollution (B-HAP) and residential energy consumption (REC) is essential for optimizing residential energy supply mix and improving the quality of indoor air worldwide. However, the literature on this topic from a perspective of energy transition is still lacking. This study investigates the relationship between the variation in the B-HAP and the structural transition of REC using cross-sectional data of 135 countries during 1990–2015. The results indicate that countries with high B-HAP are clustered in Africa and Asia, which are mainly middle- and low-income countries. Meanwhile, with the structural transition of REC, the global B-HAP has exhibited a decreasing trend. Moreover, the findings show that residential electricity use has a greater impact on B-HAP reduction than other household fuels. Although the impacts of liquefied petroleum gas usage changed considerably during the study period, its contribution to reducing the B-HAP remains highly significant, while household natural gas use exhibited a significant and stable effect on B-HAP reduction. In contrast, solid biomass use showed an increasingly adverse impact on the B-HAP, and the impact of coal use on the B-HAP became statistically significant since 2010, with an increasing trend. •Countries with the high B-HAP are clustered in Africa and Asia.•Promoting residential electricity use is likely to reduce the B-HAP.•Using solid biomass and coal is imposing an adverse impact on B-HAP.•Liquid and gaseous fuel use has a beneficial impact on reducing B-HAP.