Transition of household cookfuels in China from 2010 to 2012

Emissions from household cookfuels strongly affect both air quality and climate change. China is undergoing a rapid transition of cookfuels due to its rapid development, which has significant consequences for environment and health. Unfortunately, detailed information on this transition is scarce. In this study, the trajectory and geographical variation of the cookfuel transition and the factors affecting it were investigated based on panel data on cookfuel choice from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2010 and 2012 covering areas that include more than 90% of the national population and a large fraction of repeated households, thus reducing uncertainty. Over this short period, the proportion of Chinese households cooking with solid fuel dropped rapidly from 50% in 2010 to 39% in 2012; 9% and 18% of the solid fuel-using households in 2010 switched to clean energy in 2012, particularly electricity, in urban and rural areas, respectively, according to CFPS. The major forces driving the cookfuel transition include income, educational level, location, energy price, and fuel accessibility. Although switching from biomass to gas and electricity led to a slight increase in CO2 emissions, the total residential emissions of CO, BC, OC, PM2.5, and Hg decreased by more than 10% from 2010 to 2012. The warming effect of increased CO2 emissions and reduced OC emissions was outweighed by the cooling effect achieved by the emissions reduction of air pollutants with warming impacts, including CO, BC and CH4. Although this rapid transition is highly beneficial, it requires national action to accelerate and expand to a greater proportion of poor populations.