International rural new energy industry innovation development and benefit-linkage practices

The rural new energy industry is a crucial area for promoting green transformation and achieving sustainable development, significantly contributing to improvements in energy structure and environmental protection. While China’s rural new energy industry has made substantial progress due to policy support and technological advancements, it still faces numerous challenges in practical development. This paper aims to compare and analyze the experiences and practices of various countries and regions—including the United States, the European Union, Brazil, and China—to identify their primary benefit-linkage mechanisms, policy support systems, and overall performance. Based on this analysis, the paper will provide policy recommendations and improvement measures for the innovative development of China’s rural new energy industry. The research findings indicate that (1) different countries and regions employ various benefit-linkage mechanisms in the rural new energy sector, including cooperative models, public-private partnerships, and community participation models. Each mechanism has its unique advantages and disadvantages in facilitating project development and benefit linkage. (2) Although all countries have established comprehensive policy support systems, there are notable differences in the introduction and implementation of market mechanisms. The European Union and the United States possess relatively mature market mechanisms for carbon emission trading and green certificate trading, whereas the market mechanisms in China and Brazil are either new or not sufficiently developed. (3) The United States and the European Union demonstrate strong performance in technological advancement and market operations, yielding significant economic and environmental benefits. In contrast, China and Brazil have made progress in policy support and technology adoption but need to enhance their market mechanisms and international cooperation. (4) Social participation and community support yield important social benefits in new energy projects across various countries and regions, particularly the community participation model, which positively impacts community cohesion and project development.