Internet access and rural energy poverty alleviation in China: The moderating role of human capital

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 aims to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy. Exploring pathways to alleviate rural household energy poverty is crucial for achieving the SDGs. To this end, this paper focuses on the role of internet use, theoretically analyzes its impact on rural energy poverty from a utility maximization perspective, and empirically tests this relationship using China Family Panel Studies data (2014–2020). Results demonstrate that internet use significantly mitigates rural energy poverty, particularly for households with limited-human-capital—a finding robust to various tests. Further analysis reveals that internet use alleviates energy poverty by enhancing non-farm labor supply, facilitating farmland transfer, and increasing social capital. Additionally, significant household and regional heterogeneity exists: the effect is stronger among low-income, non-aging, female-headed, and high-energy-cost households; regionally, it is more pronounced in central, western, and northeastern China. Policy implications include establishing human-capital-oriented digital inclusion systems, deepening internet-driven income-boosting mechanisms, and implementing demographically and geographically targeted interventions.