Technological capabilities for innovation activities across Europe: Evidence from wind, solar and bioenergy technologies

Abstract

Abstract This paper contributes to the development of renewable energy innovation metrics through an exploration of innovation patterns across the European countries in 2010. The identified localized innovation capabilities describe the health of the wind, solar and bioenergy sectors, highlighting a concentrated RES innovation activity within four countries: Germany, France, United Kingdom and Denmark. The association of technological capabilities along the innovation composite indicators allows the extraction of useful insights of the role of environmental policies on employment and technological change. Briefly, the corporate research investment per patent is lower for wind energy (EUR 0.61 million) and higher for PV and biofuels (approximately EUR 1 million). Important lever of innovation capabilities across Europe is identified within public support to deployment, which provides significant insights in terms of economic efficiency of generation technologies; the investigation finds job ratios which are higher for wind and lower for PV technology. As the evolution of the market drives the patterns of innovation activities for all selected technologies, considerable financial consequences are identified in the context of delocalization of clean technology manufacturers.