Research Reports
The Current Situation of Living Energy Use in Rural Area
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AuthorPark, Sihyun
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Publication Date2013.12.30
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Original
Background of Research
The living energy cost in rural areas is rising due to high oil prices and this has a lot of effect on the quality of life of rural residents. Even though various policies are implemented to address the energy issue at the national level, and many policy initiatives such as the energy independent village are being launched in rural areas, too, the effect has not been so satisfactory. Identification of problems through accurate investigation and analysis of the actual state of energy consumption and production in rural areas and presentation of mid- and long-term policy options are very important tasks for revitalizing rural areas and for setting up a direction for energy policy at the national level.
Method of Research
In this study, the criteria for identifying the current situation of energy consumption in rural areas and for finding research issues based on previous research are laid down. Next, the current situation is analyzed based on related statistics. A questionnaire survey was conducted nationwide among 1,000 households in rural areas in regard to household energy consumption. The factors of living energy consumption in rural areas are analyzed with a regression model based on the statistics data and survey results.
Research Results and Implications
The analysis results showed that the living energy consumption of households in rural counties accounts for about 7%, or 1,530,800 TOE, of total household energy consumption nationwide. Even though the average household energy consumption in rural areas is less than that of cities, rural households are bearing a higher burden than city dwellers. The energy cost is relatively higher especially in the case of low-income elderly people in rural areas. For example, if we compare the energy expenditure per person between urban and rural households by income, the rural households with a monthly income of less than one million won paid ₩53,000 per month on average in 2011, which is the highest among the different income groups, whereas urban households with a monthly income of between ₩7 million and ₩8 million spent 37,381 won a month for energy, which is the least amount among all the income groups.
Such a problem exists because rural residents have no other choice but to buy a relatively expensive energy source such as oil products.
The energy production for household consumption is lacking in rural areas. According to this study, it is estimated that the production of renewable energy in rural areas does not reach 1% of the total energy consumption.
The energy production for household consumption in rural areas can be said to have been driven by the government's renewable energy policy, but it is evaluated that its investment effect on energy independence in rural areas is low. In particular, there is a high likelihood that the maintenance and management cost of large facilities initiated by the government would put a burden on the residents.
However, the rural residents' awareness of the need to switch the energy source is high and various efforts are made voluntarily to reduce energy consumption in rural areas. If the residents' efforts are well coordinated with the government policy, then energy can be saved more effectively. The searching for answers to this issue will be conducted in the second year of this study.
Researchers: Si-Hyun Park, Jae-Hun Sim
Research Period: 2013. 1 ～ 2013. 12
E-mail address: shparkf@krei.re.kr
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