Low-carbon and cost-saving dispatch optimization of rural integrated energy systems

Rural energy systems in China face problems such as insufficient clean energy utilization and low energy efficiency. To promote the low-carbon transition of rural energy systems and improve biomass resource utilization, this paper proposes an optimal dispatch model for a biomass anaerobic fermentation-coupled rural integrated energy system considering integrated demand response and a ladder-type carbon trading mechanism. The model establishes a price-based and substitution-based integrated demand response mechanism to exploit the flexible regulation potential of electric, heating, and cooling loads, and introduces a ladder-type carbon trading mechanism to guide low-carbon system operation. With the objective of minimizing daily system operating cost, a multi-scenario optimal dispatch model is formulated. Based on operational data from an agricultural park in Yunnan, China, five comparative scenarios are designed, and Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis is conducted. The results show that, on a typical spring day, compared with a natural gas-based combined cooling, heating, and power system without demand response, the proposed model reduces total cost by approximately 6.01% and carbon emissions by approximately 67.93%. The case results indicate that the proposed model can effectively reduce carbon emissions while improving system economy and multi-energy coordination.