Does low-carbon energy transition mitigate energy poverty? The case of natural gas for China

Abstract Low-carbon energy transition has promoted China's green and sustainable development; however, it will be hindered by energy poverty. To investigate whether low-carbon energy transition can mitigate the energy poverty, based on panel data of China's 30 provinces covering the period of 2004–2017, this study investigates the impact of natural gas consumption (NGC) on China's energy poverty by employing the differential generalized method of moments (D-GMM) as the benchmark method. For this purpose, China's energy poverty is assessed by constructing a composite index that includes four sub-indices. We also analyze the influencing mechanism and heterogeneous impact of NGC on energy poverty. The overall estimation results imply that the impact of NGC on China's energy poverty is significantly negative; in other words, increased NGC can effectively mitigate China's energy poverty. Moreover, through the influencing mechanism check, the impact of NGC on energy poverty is mainly sourced from the four sub-indices, i.e., energy service availability (ESA), energy consumption cleanliness (ECC), energy management completeness (EMC), and household energy affordability & energy efficiency (EAE). Furthermore, the impact of NGC on energy poverty differs across various regions. Finally, several important policy implications are highlighted for eliminating China's energy poverty and promoting growth in the country's low-carbon energy industry.