Abstract

The real energy consumption by households is a fundamental element of energy inequality, encompassing both direct energy consumption and indirect energy consumption embodied in products consumed by households. This study measures real energy consumption inequality of households in China for the year 2017 via an energy-extended input-output analysis and the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) to, and uncovers the contributions of regional distributions and energy types to household energy inequality through the decomposition analysis. The findings reveal that the real energy inequality is lower than the direct and indirect values. The larger consumers contribute more, and the intra-urban disparity accounts for nearly half of the real inequality. Regarding the energy inequality of regional distributions, the Northeast, East Coast, South Coast, and Central Yellow River benefit from inter-regional trade, leading to lower real inequality compared to direct inequality. Among energy types, electricity exhibits a modest degree of inequality, with the urban part being more equitable than the rural. Additionally, electricity, gas, and oil contribute to almost three-quarters of the overall inequality. This study provides significant policy implications from a sustainable development perspective for energy inequality alleviation and guides other economies to pay attention to the energy inequality of households.