Survey on the households’ energy-saving behaviors and influencing factors in the rural loess hilly region of China

Farmers and their energy saving behaviors make significant sense for long-run sustainability and enacting effective energy policies, particularly in the fragile eco-environment and non-developed rural area. This study investigates the rural household energy-saving behaviors and influencing factors in the loess hilly region of China by taking Qin’an county in Gansu province based on a total of 506 households by adopting the participatory farmer assessment method. Most peasant families pay close attention energy conservation in their daily lives. Most farmer households (88.74%) were conscious of energy saving in their daily lives, and consider energy saving as a self-acting behavior (68.58%) and good habit (87.94%); electricity is the main clean energy for farmers; the price of energy-saving products is the key factor for farmers, and the female and the younger householders have better performance in energy conservation. Farmers’ energy-saving behaviors are negatively correlated with the altitude of their dwellings but positively correlated with the education level of householders, family size, income. We argue that continuous training on energy saving is necessary and should be tailored to local conditions and supported by the government.