Hotspots, flaws and deficiencies of research on rural energy upgrading : a review

The systematic review of rural energy research is important to accurately identify the existing shortcomings and future research directions for the advancement of the rural energy upgrading (REU). This article selects the research on rural energy from the perspective of the economy, environment and society published in the ScienceDirect database after 2010, systematically sorts out and classifies the research content, and summarizes and reviews the main conclusions, findings and solutions to the problems. At the same time, based on factual observation and logical analysis, the gaps and deficiencies of studies on various topics are summarized, which identifies the directions for further research on this topic. The results found that most of the current research on rural energy focuses on the utilisation of agricultural biomass energy and energy consumption in rural life (RL), with little research being conducted on the energy use of agricultural production (AP). Research on rural energy systems (RESs), AP and RL energy use examines the general energy use characteristics and influencing factors, but RES research lacks an investigation of the interaction between AP and RL in REU. Research on energy use in AP and RL has focused insufficiently on the impact of energy use habitats and spatial effects and lacks a systematic and comprehensive study of various types of energy consumption. In the research of REn and agricultural biomass energy, the spatial spillover effect of technology and the role of human capital are likewise underinvestigated. The overlooked issues and the insufficiency of research theories and methods of the research on REU have been identified in order to guide further advancement to appropriate research directions and routes to form systematic and comprehensive policies to promote REU.