The Patterns of Energy Innovation Convergence across European Countries

Tomasz Kijek,Arkadiusz Kijek,Piotr Bolibok,Anna Matras-Bolibok

doi:10.3390/en14102755

Abstract

Energy innovation is critical for addressing climate change and the ecological transitions of both developed and emerging economies. The present paper aims at the identification and assessment of patterns in energy innovation convergence across a sample of 27 European countries over the period 2000–2018. The research is based on data covering a broad category of patents related to climate change mitigation technologies in the energy sector, including combustion inventions with mitigation potential (e.g., using biomass), extracted from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Statistical Database. Using a nonlinear time-varying factor model, the paper demonstrates that energy innovation efforts in the examined sample follow a pattern of club convergence. The findings allow the identification of three convergence clubs characterised by distinct disparities in energy patent intensity, as measured by the number of patent applications per 10 million inhabitants. Moreover, the results of an ordered logit model demonstrate that the emergence of the identified convergence clubs might be attributable to initial differences in per capita environmental research and development (R&D) expenditure, human resources in science and technology (HRST), and environmental policy stringency. The findings have important policy implications as they suggest the need for more tailored policies based on smart development and specialization frameworks designed to boost the energy innovation performance of the laggard countries, more fully exploiting the potential of their less technologically advanced sectors, such as agriculture.

Highlights

Facing the constantly growing consumption of energy in the world on the one hand, and the scarcity of natural resources and the looming perspective of climate change on the other, the search for new sources of energy, increasing the use of renewable ones, and improving their efficiency inevitably become the central issues of sustainable development and ecological transition of both developed and emerging economies
Given the above considerations and largely limited prior empirical evidence, the present study aims at the identification and assessment of patterns in energy innovation convergence in the area of climate change mitigation technologies across European countries
The log t test used for the whole sample indicates that the hypothesis of overall convergence can be rejected at the 5% significance level (−6.2339)

Summary

Introduction

Facing the constantly growing consumption of energy in the world on the one hand, and the scarcity of natural resources and the looming perspective of climate change on the other, the search for new sources of energy, increasing the use of renewable ones, and improving their efficiency inevitably become the central issues of sustainable development and ecological transition of both developed and emerging economies. The intensity and efficiency of innovative activities in the field of energy become critical for addressing key challenges related to environmental protection and ensuring a more sustainable consumption of natural resources, such as energy security, combating pollution or limiting global warming. Given the complexity and turbulent nature of the contemporary socio-economic environment, successful energy innovations often result from collective learning processes combining knowledge, skills, R&D and the deployment efforts of suppliers and users of particular technologies. It is worth pointing out, that such processes are usually possible only in specific contexts and within particular incentive structures [3]. Every energy strategy must accommodate a multitude of often conflicting goals related to security, reliability, ecological performance, and costs of possible energy sources [4]

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Conclusion