*2.1. Energy Literacy*

Energy literacy is related to the perception and consumption of energy [5]. The earliest research focused on knowledge [17], while more recently, researchers have become increasingly aware of the importance of the willingness and actions of people [18]. When an individual is energy-aware, they know the energy production and consumption in everyday life, how to save energy in their home, how to adopt economic energy-efficient behaviors, and how their energy choice may be related to climate change [1]. Although the definition of energy literacy remains unclear, most authors have accepted that literacy should consist of three domains: knowledge, attitude (affect), and behavior [1,6,7]. Knowledge is a critical element in achieving energy literacy, comprising an understanding of energy efficiency, awareness of the environment, and the social impacts of energy production, distribution, and consumption [1,6,7]. Attitude refers to people's perceptions of the impact of energy issues on their lives and energy-related beliefs that are crucial for decision-making [1,6,7]. Though the affect may be instead of attitude in different studies, it means much the same as attitude, which refers to how you think of energy use [6]. Behavior includes personal attention to environmental issues and the need for energy efficiency, the responsibility each individual feels to be a citizen worldwide, and commitment to energy efficiency [1,6,7]. Previous studies have paid more attention to the relationship between energy knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Hungerford and Volk found that knowledge contributes to behavior because it plays an important role in environmental protection decisions [19], whereas Alp et al. indicate that the energy attitudes of elementary school students significantly influence their environmental behavior [20]. Rioux proposed that neighborhood attachment as an affection variable is a critical element in the behavior of secondary school students. Energy knowledge of people, as well as their willingness and ability to act, are important

for literacy [21]. De Waters and Powers also proposed that energy behavior and affect are more relevant than knowledge [6]. However, the traditional thinking that increasing knowledge could increase affect and result in behavioral changes has been gradually challenged by subsequent researchers. Numerous studies have reported that reasonable knowledge does not necessarily translate into sound behavior to save energy. For example, although Minnesota residents have already acquired some electricity-saving habits, they still show resistance to replacing equipment with more efficient ones and using public transport or more economical driving methods [1]. Similarly, although the Danes show a good energy knowledge level, they do not use more efficient equipment or renewable energy [22]. Chen et al. and Lee found that Taiwanese students achieved reasonable energy knowledge [23], but it did not seem to determine behavior change. University students in Portugal also showed a low level of concern and commitment to energy saving [24,25].

The scales and models of energy literacy also play an important role in energy literacy research. The foundation for developing a competitive scale for measuring energy literacy is still based on knowledge, attitude (affect), and behavior. In addition to the efforts of DeWaters to develop an energy literacy scale, Bodzin et al. developed two instruments to measure the energy literacy of middle-level education students: one related to knowledge and the other related to attitude and behavior [26]. Similarly, Kyriazi and Mavrikaki developed a scale to measure the environmental literacy of post-secondary students [27]. In general, the framework is defined as follows: (1) The knowledge dimensions refer to the influences of energy development, various types of daily energy use, basic rules of energy use, and the importance of efficient energy use. (2) The attitude dimensions refer to the influences of energy use in the daily lives of people, and the behavioral dimensions refer to the adoption of energy-efficient behaviors in daily life. Meanwhile, there are two main aspects of the discussion of energy literacy models: the education and the psychological model. The education model emphasizes the importance of acquiring energy, knowledge, and skills, which closely contribute to actions and behaviors. The psychological model encourages people to take responsibility for energy-saving actions. For example, Kollmuss and Agyeman proposed that internal and external factors are directly related to pro-environmental behavior [28].

The level of energy literacy is also related to personal characteristics and educational background; from the perspective of personal characteristics, gender is one of the most important factors. Studies have shown that although women have lower levels of energyrelated financial literacy [29–31], they have higher levels of energy literacy than men [32]. Studies have also reported that the primary factors determining energy literacy are gender, going away from home to study, and the experience of energy poverty [33]. Meanwhile, age played an important role, and the results showed that children and elderly people presented lower levels of energy literacy [34]. Promoting the energy consumption habits of children has become a critical program; this includes increasing the frequency of energyrelated curricular units, supplying a high level of parental education [35], and improving the practice of educational games [36,37]. Different educational backgrounds were also associated with different levels of energy literacy. As education programs can benefit students by achieving proficiency levels of energy literacy, students in different areas may have different opportunities to learn energy-saving knowledge and skills [38]. Differences also existed among students from different disciplines. For example, the results showed that students who majored in agriculture performed better than others [39]. Similarly, students of geography, earth and environmental sciences, marine sciences, engineering, and architecture obtained the broadest knowledge of energy issues from their education and are perceived to have a superior level of knowledge on the subject [40]. More recently, current research on energy literacy has been paying attention to more vulnerable energy users, suggesting that they may experience inadequate access to affordable and reliable energy services and have less financial and material resources to buffer harm [3].

Based on the above, previous studies on energy research have mostly discussed the concept of energy literacy [5,6], the relationship between energy knowledge, literacy, and behavior [19–21], scales of energy literacy [26,27], and factors influencing energy literacy [29,30,37], as shown in Table 1. However, few studies have addressed the relationship between energy and other social developments from a transdisciplinary perspective. Tourism, as an integrated industry in modern society, involves the flow and massive consumption of people and services, and the energy behavior of its stakeholders is crucial for environmental sustainability. Therefore, it is useful to focus on energy development from the tourism perspective.


**Table 1.** The development of energy literacy review (Source: by own study).

#### *2.2. Energy and Tourism*

Recent studies have shown that tourism and energy are interrelated. Energy tourism is often associated with industrial tourism to attract tourists, as some former industrial sites are still open or regenerated for tourism [8,9]. For example, decommissioned coal mining sites or New York's Highline park [41,42]. In addition, agritourism tourism can be considered a type of energy tourism since it is often connected to energy production activities on the farm, such as producing biogas on-site, growing energy crops, or grazing sheep on the meadow of photovoltaic plants [2,43]. Along with tourism destinations, energy tourism could also play an important role in improving the energy literacy of people and changing their energy use behavior, resulting in more sustainable energy citizens [44]. New forms like environmental education, displays of new technologies, interactive science experiments, and various outdoor activities, such as cycling, camping, or hiking, could be used in various types of energy tourism, for example, in ecological education centers, observation towers, and natural trails [2]. The aim is to improve energy knowledge through tourism; however, energy may also impose restrictions on tourism. Energy facilities engaged in the extraction and processing of energy resources can have a negative effect on the character and function of many energy landscapes [2,10]. Environmental pollution and poor landscape vision may discourage visitors from visiting these locations [45,46]. Previous studies also had different views on visitors' perceptions of different energy facilities. Some studies have suggested that visitor perceptions may vary depending on the form, location, and concentration of space; spatial closeness of the energy facility [2]; physical and social values of the local environment [47]; and the type and sociodemographic characteristics of the tourist [48]. In addition, some studies concluded that visually appealing energy facilities, such as large wind farms, may influence the choices of visitors and their intention to revisit. Similarly, studies have reported that there are no significant negative impacts of wind turbines on local tourism [49].

Tourist needs also lead to extensive consumption of energy, for example, fuels burned for traveling, heating, and cooling; chemical products for cleaning; and energy used for cooking. According to a UN report, each tourist produces 1 kg of solid waste per day. Previous research on the environmental impact of energy consumption in tourism has been broadly discussed. Research showed that new recreational facilities and accommodations had been built to compete with more tourists, leading to more energy consumption [50]. Guests in hotels tend to use more towels, have longer showers and generate more waste than at home; plastic particles such as bags and bottles are discarded in scenic areas [51]. Becken et al. argued that the duration of visitor stay is the main variable affecting total energy use [52], but energy efficiency appears to rise with increasing stay [53]. While these actions are not necessarily caused by malicious intent, they could incur additional management costs, disturb residents, and endanger the ecosystem [54,55]. Furthermore, Becken and Simmons suggested that accommodation in tourism has a low energy consumption of fossil fuels while burning wood is a potential threat to the environment [56]. Fuelwood collecting is one of the prime causes of forest cover loss in remote tourism destinations [57], which may cause landslides and air pollution. Recently some scholars also stated that tourism could have negative externalities such as climate change and air pollution [58]. Similarly, Qureshi et al. confirmed that both environmental variables and air pollution are significantly associated with health services in Malaysia [59]. Some studies also found that economic growth and energy consumption influenced carbon emissions as more tourists arrived [60]. In addition, some studies have also discussed energy saving and pro-environmental behavior in tourism. Given the impact of tourism consumption on the environment, some researchers explored the factors that encourage more sustainable behavior, as these factors may bring about changes in visitor behaviors [61]. Such as pro-environmental behavior are actions that minimize harm or even benefit the environment [62], and pro-environmental tourists refer to those who try to alleviate their negative effects on the environment by adopting energy-saving behaviors in their trip [63]. Studies point to factors such as moral, affective attitudes, and environmental awareness are important to the formation of pro-environmental behavior [64]. Scholars also developed a scale to measure the pro-environmental contextual force that affects urban tourists' PEBs [51].

More recent studies also paid attention to energy literacy in tourism. Studies have shown that tourists are less aware of energy literacy at hotels than at home [65,66]. As previously mentioned, higher energy literacy contributes to energy protection; therefore, it is not surprising that energy literacy has recently gained increasing attention in tourism research. For example, Teng et al. discussed the impact of knowledge and the effect of hotel employees on energy literacy [13]. In addition, some studies have investigated the energy literacy characteristics of peasant households in rural tourism destinations. Zhang also found significant links between the energy knowledge, affect, and behavior of tourism farmers [4]. It has also been suggested that energy feedback is crucial in energy behavior change, and personal values and energy literacy also have an impact on changing energy consumption behavior [67].

Tourism results in a significant increase in energy consumption, which, in turn, leads to an increase in CO2 emissions and climate change in the long term [68]. Hence, because of the close links between energy consumption and carbon emissions, some studies share significant similarities in carbon and energy literacy in terms of research targets. The reduction in CO2 emissions depends on the social ethics and responsibility of tourists. Several studies indicate that enhancing carbon literacy is important for reducing carbon emissions and promoting public conversation [69,70]. Juvan and Dolnicar emphasized the crucial role of efficient communication in the low-carbon decisions of tourists [65].

Some researchers have considered energy and carbon literacy. Horng et al. developed a measurement scale for energy-saving literacy and carbon reduction in the tourism and hospitality industries. They also found differences between Taiwanese and Malaysian students in terms of knowledge, ecological concepts, attitude, sensitivity, locus of control, action intention, and action strategy [12]. Similarly, Teng explored the energy and carbon literacy structures in hospitality and tourism practices in Taiwan [71]. Some studies have also suggested that energy-efficient policies are indispensable for tourism. As such, improving energy efficiency and reducing energy waste through energy literacy is important for the sustainable growth of tourism.

Existing energy-related tourism research has primarily discussed energy tourism as a tourist attraction [44], energy facilities' impact on tourists' energy literacy [44], and the constraints that energy imposes on tourism development [10,11,45]. Some studies have also highlighted that tourism is associated with significant energy consumption, while others have discussed the energy literacy of hotel employees [12], types of energy literacy of residents in rural tourism destinations [4], and links between energy and CO2 emissions [12,13,69,70]. More recently, current research on energy tourism has been expanded to measure the relationship between economic activities and energy consumption in ethnic regions [72]. Some researchers also suggested cycling in ethnic areas is means of low-carbon and fashionable traveling for sustainable tourism [73]. Similarly, the use of renewable energy and locally developed energy-saving technologies is increasing in tourist lodges in Nepal's ethnic region [74]. Luo also found that the absolute total emissions per visitor to one of China's ethnic tourism destinations have reduced slightly [75]. However, few studies have adequately discussed the relationship between tourism development and the energy literacy of residents. Ethnic areas need to break out of poverty and gain knowledge in development to promote local economic and environmental sustainability; these are important issues that require attention in the context of harmonious social development.
