The innovativeness of the country and the renewables and non-renewables in the energy mix on the example of European Union

Abstract

The literature review demonstrate an importance of research in of relations between innovativeness of the countries and the energy mix. The purpose of the publication is to analyze whether a country’s higher innovation translates into investment in renewable energy sources, in particular, such as photovoltaics, wind energy or bioenergy. It also analyzes whether higher innovation will reduce a country’s use of traditional, non-renewable energy sources. The analysis was carried out for the European Union countries for 2015–2020. The conducted research showed a strong positive relationship between the innovation index of an economy and the share of renewables in its energy mix. The study also confirmed the hypothesis that innovative economies first decarbonize the economy by withdrawing from a significant share of coal in Energy mix. However, some sub-hypotheses were not confirmed, such as the relationship between the innovation index and the share of hard coal and gas in Energy mix. The study emphasizes the importance of improving the level of innovation in the economy as a whole, including open innovation, as the basis for a successful energy transition. Furthermore, the research indicates that the low level of renewable energy in the Energy mix of Central and Eastern European countries is not due to a lack of commitment, but rather a low level of innovation. Therefore, governments should focus on implementing the concept of open innovation at all levels of education and business to achieve a faster energy transition.