Spatial characteristics and its driving factors of low-carbon energy technology innovation in China: A gravity movement and exploratory spatial data analysis

Abstract

Low-carbon energy technology innovation is increasingly recognized as an essential driver for mitigating the global climate change. Using the patent data from 31 Chinese provinces for the period of 2000–2017, this study develops an integrated methodological framework combining gravity model, Shapley decomposition method, index decomposition method and exploratory spatial data analysis to identify the spatial characteristics and its driving factors of China’s low-carbon energy technology (LCT) innovation. Three aspects are covered, including alternative energy production technology (AEPT), energy conservation technology (ECT) and nuclear power generation technology (NPGT). The results show that the gravity centers of the total LCT and AEPT patent applications moved toward China’s southwest, while those of ECT and NPGT patent applications moved toward China’s northeast and southeast, respectively. The northern coastal China was the main engine region for the gravity shifts of the total LCT patent applications and AEPT patent applications, while the southern coastal China was the top engine region driving the gravity shift of ECT patent applications. Both northern and southern coastal China played the major roles in driving the gravity shift of NPGT patent applications. Among four drivers, technology priority was the major driving factor for the increases of all types of low-carbon energy technology innovations in China’s eight regions, followed by economic scale and R&D efficiency, while the effect from R&D share was the smallest. All types of low-carbon energy technology innovations presented significant spatial dispersions at the provincial level. Most provinces presented Low-Low clustering in 2000 and 2017, while most coastal provinces transferred from Low-Low clustering in 2000 to High-Low clustering in 2017. Finally, some policy suggestions are proposed for China to promote LCT innovation.