Sustainable development of rural energy and its appraising system in China

The local biomass resources have been used in rural China for quite a long time, which has a close connection with and will inevitably affect the environment. In recent years, China has experienced rapid economic growth and equally rapid increases in energy use, especially commercial energy, in rural areas. As a result, energy induced environmental degradation has also increased in rural China. This paper discusses the relationship between China’s rural energy and its sustainable development. It brings forward the index system for appraising the sustainable development of rural energy (SDRE), calculates the weighing of each index with analytic hierarchy process (AHP), puts forward the quantification method and provides the basis for the research of the rural energy for sustainable development in different areas and periods.