Renewable Energy Technological Innovation Research Articles

The Impact of Renewable Energy Technology Innovation on Industrial Green Transformation and Upgrading: Beggar Thy Neighbor or Benefiting Thy Neighbor

Renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) is a crucial way to improve energy poverty and combat climate change. However, few studies have examined the impact of RETI on industrial green transformation and upgrading (IGTU) from the perspective of spatial spillover and its regional boundary. Based on the theory of green growth and sustainable development, this paper expands the connotation boundary of IGTU and measures the IGTU levels of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2020 using an improved entropy weight method. Kernel density estimation and Moran’s I index are adopted to portray temporal and spatial patterns, the spatial Durbin model is employed to examine the influencing mechanism and spatial spillover effects of RETI on IGTU and its regional boundaries, and the differential impact of its spatial effects on time, region, resource endowment, and environmental regulation are explored further. The results show that (1) RETI and IGTU in China are steadily increasing, indicating a decreasing spatial differentiation pattern of “east–west”; (2) RETI significantly promotes local IGTU but inhibits neighboring IGTU, forming a “beggar-thy-neighbor” situation; (3) the spatial spillover effect of RETI on IGTU has significant regional boundaries—the spatial spillover effect significantly negative and persists up to 800 km, but it is significantly positive from 800 to 1400 km and shows a trend of increasing and then decreasing; and (4) the promoting effect of RETI on IGTU gradually increases over time, presenting spatial differences of promotion in the east and inhibition in the west. Furthermore, RETI has a more substantial promoting effect on IGTU in non-resource-based regions and strong environmental regulation regions. The findings for China provide concrete evidence for formulating targeted policies and seeking a path for IGTU for other developing countries.

Does the use of renewable energy increase carbon productivity? ——An empirical analysis based on data from 30 provinces in China

Renewable energy consumption has a strong driving force for promoting energy conservation and emission reduction, and is a new way to achieve clean and low-carbon development. Based on this, this paper uses the data of renewable energy consumption, carbon productivity, GDP, population, energy efficiency and technological innovation of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020, and empirically analyzes the impact of renewable energy consumption on carbon productivity in 30 provinces in China, using STIRPAT model, comprehensively considers spatial horizontally and temporal vertically dimension. The empirical results show that: (1) China's carbon productivity shows a significant spatial spillover effect , its impact can spill over to adjacent areas within 1000 km; (2) China's renewable energy power consumption plays a significant role in promoting the improvement of carbon productivity. (3) Renewable energy consumption in the western region plays the most important role in driving carbon productivity. Finally, according to the temporal and spatial relationship between renewable energy consumption and carbon productivity in different regions, we provide specific regional policy suggestions. • The STIRPAT model is employed to explore temporal and spatial impact, while it considers sub regions. • Spatialy, the impact can spill over to adjacent areas within 1000km. Temporally, the impact fluctuates and rises. • The positive role of renewable energy consumption is found in China's western region.

Energy mix with technological innovation to abate carbon emission: fresh evidence from Mexico applying wavelet tools and spectral causality.

The global warming issue arises from climate change, which draws scientists' attention toward cleaner energy sources. Among clean sources, renewables and nuclear energy are getting immense attention among policymakers. However, the significance of nuclear energy in reducing CO2 emissions has remained ambiguous, necessitating further research. Therefore, the present study draws impetuous attention to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals-7 (affordable clean energy) & 13 (climate change mitigation) by looking at the relationship between energy mix (fossil fuels, renewables, and nuclear), economic growth, technological innovation, and CO2 emissions in Mexico from 1980 to 2019 using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. In addition, to assess the direction of causality, this study applied wavelet techniques and spectral causality. The findings affirm that renewable and nuclear energy use and technological innovation tend to curb CO2 emissions, whereas fossil fuel consumption and economic expansion trigger CO2 emissions. The study lends support to the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) phenomenon in Mexico. The FMOLS and DOLS tests show that our long-run estimates are reliable. In different time scales, the wavelet coherence result is also consistent. Finally, the results of the spectral causality approach demonstrate a significant causal association between the variables tested at various frequencies. As a result, in order to achieve SDGs 7 and 13 and support an environmentally friendly ecosystem, Mexico's energy mix must be changed to renewables and nuclear.

How does renewable energy technology innovation affect the upgrading of industrial structure? The moderating effect of green finance

In the context of sustainable development, the renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) may have a potential impact upon the industrial structure upgrading, while green finance will play a moderating part. This paper studies the role of green finance and renewable energy technological innovation on industrial structure in China. We found that RETI has contributed significantly to the adjustment of industrial structure. The research results of PVAR (Panel Vector Autoregressive) model further prove this dynamic and continuous positive promotion. The threshold regression results indicate that with the improvement of green finance, there is a non-linear relationship between RETI and industrial structure. In areas where green finance is relatively low, RETI can inhibit the upgrading of industrial structure. When the degree of green finance development is relatively high, the influence of RETI on industrial structure is remarkably positive. Heterogeneity analysis shows that in eastern China, renewable energy technological innovation has significantly promoted the industrial structure upgrading. Therefore, policy makers should take various measures to expedite the green finance development and strengthen the green finance support to renewable energy technology innovations. Chinese government has the need to continue to implement related green credit policies and expand the source of green funds.

Nexus between carbon emissions, economic growth, renewable energy use, urbanization, industrialization, technological innovation, and forest area towards achieving environmental sustainability in Bangladesh

Global climate change, exacerbated by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, notably carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, offers enormous risks to the environment, development, and long-term sustainability. This study looks at how economic growth, renewable energy utilization, urbanization, industrialization, technological innovation, and forest area might help Bangladesh attain environmental sustainability by lowering CO2 emissions. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing strategy was used to test time series data from 1990 to 2019, followed by the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) method. The empirical findings reveal that economic growth, urbanization, and industrialization increase CO2 emissions in Bangladesh while improving renewable energy use, technological innovation, and forest area assistance to achieve environmental sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions. In addition, the pairwise Granger causality test was utilized to capture the causal linkages between the variables. This article provides policy recommendations aimed at a low-carbon economy, promoting renewable energy use, sustainable urbanization, green industrialization, financing technological advancement, and sustainable forest management, to accomplish emission reduction and environmental sustainability in Bangladesh.

The pressure of political promotion and renewable energy technological innovation: A spatial econometric analysis from China

The role of the pressure of political promotion in China's economic and social development has been affirmed. However, an investigation on whether the pressure of political promotion affects renewable energy technological innovation (RETI) and its mechanism in China is underdeveloped. Using the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2007 to 2018, we investigate how the pressure of political promotion affects RETI with spatial econometric analysis. The results show that, first, the pressure of political promotion negatively affects RETI in both local and other regions. Second, there indeed exists spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the negative effect of the pressure of political promotion on RETI. For the temporal variation, the negative effect shows a decrease followed by an increase. For the spatial differences, the negative effect is greatest in the northeast region, followed by the central and eastern coastal regions, and the smallest in the western region. Finally, the spatial transmission mechanism analysis indicates that the decrease of pressure of political promotion can promote RETI by increasing the level of marketization. This study contributes to improving government governance and promoting renewable energy development.

Can the ecological environment reverse feed renewable energy technology innovation? -- Heterogeneity test from the Yangtze River Economic Belt

This study uses panel data from 112 cities in 11 provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 1998 to 2019. This study uses a spatial measurement model to test the reversal feeding effect (RFE) of the ecological environment (EE) on renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) in each area of the basin. The results showed that there is a gradual decrease in the strength of RFE from west to the east and a certain lag period. The RFE mechanism had regional heterogeneity. For eastern cities, industrial advancement, financial development, and resident consumption, together with EE, were significantly reverse-feed RETI. For central cities, it is mainly reflected in the interaction of EE on FDI and industrial advancement. For western cities, EE affects infrastructure investment and government R&D, thereby reversing feeding RETI. The results from the decomposition of spatial effects showed that the RFE of eastern cities in the integration process was not limited to the local area but also has a demonstration effect on neighbouring areas. The RFE in the central cities is limited to local areas due to the “Nimbyism” (Not in My Back Yard). “Race-to-top” among western cities can only produce an RFE in the local area but has a restraining effect on neighbouring areas.

An Asymmetric Nexus between Urbanization and Technological Innovation and Environmental Sustainability in Ethiopia and Egypt: What Is the Role of Renewable Energy?

The present study investigates the nexus between urbanization, technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, and environmental quality in Egypt and Ethiopia from 1980 to 2020 by employing symmetric and asymmetric frameworks. Referring to symmetric assessment, the coefficient of renewable energy consumption and technological innovation revealed a negative and statistically significant tie with environmental sustainability, valid for both proxies. Study findings suggest that clean energy integration and technological innovations in the economy decrease environmental adversity by reducing carbon emissions and ecological blames. Although the elasticity of urbanization has documented a positive and statistically significant connection with environmental sustainability, the conclusion is valid for both models. Second, in the long run, the asymmetric shocks of renewable energy consumption and technological innovation have exposed a negative and statistically significant tie to environmental sustainability, whereas in the case of urbanization, the asymmetric shocks unveiled a positive and statistically significant association to environmental sustainability. Third, the study revealed that the feedback hypothesis explains the relationship between technological innovation and environmental sustainability [TI←→EF] in Egypt and ecological footprint and urbanization in Egypt and Ethiopia. Moreover, unidirectional causality runs from ecological footprint to renewable energy consumption in Egypt and Ethiopia.

Economic performance and natural resources: Evaluating the role of economic risk

Natural resources and economic performance have been under discussion for the last three decades. Still, the picture is not clear due to the contradictory arguments of scholars and researchers. To end this debate, the current study investigates the association between natural resources and the economic performance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) over the 1990–2020 period. Also, the role of economic risk, renewable energy consumption, and technological innovation has been investigated. The empirical estimates validate the panel's slope heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence, which leads to adopting the second-generation unit root test. Using panel quantile regression, the findings unveil that natural resources are a blessing for the selected economies. Also, renewable energy consumption and technological innovation are significant contributors to economic growth. Besides, the magnitude of natural resources and the renewable energy consumption is found to significantly increase from lower quantile (Q0.25) to medium (Q0.50) and higher quantiles (Q0.75). Conversely, the magnitude of technological innovation decreases while moving from lower to higher quantiles. The empirical findings are robust, as reported by dynamic ordinary least squares. Moreover, the causal association between economic performance and technological innovation is found bidirectional. However, a unidirectional causality has been observed from natural resources, renewable energy consumption, and economic risk to economic growth. This study recommends the efficient utilization of natural resources, investment in renewable energy sources, and research and development for technological advancement.

How does the pressure of political promotion affect renewable energy technological innovation? Evidence from 30 Chinese provinces

Government policy is important for China's renewable energy technological innovation (RETI). However, little focus on the role of government officials who are the decision-makers. Using the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2002 to 2018, we aim to examine the impact of the pressure of political promotion on RETI with the dynamic least squares (DOLS), fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), and feasibility generalized least squares (FGLS) methods. The results of FMOLS, DOLS, and FGLS show that per unit increase in pressure of political promotion decreases RETI by 3.1%, 6.2%, and 2.7%, respectively. This inhibitory effect is greatest in hydropower technological innovation, followed by technological innovations in wind power and energy storage. But no evidence supports the pressure of political promotion inhibits technological innovations in solar, biomass, and marine energy. Moreover, the results of the panel threshold model suggest that when GDP and foreign direct investment (FDI) exceed 3085 billion yuan and 7.928 billion US dollars, respectively, the inhibitory effect of the pressure of political promotion on RETI is insignificant. Finally, mechanism analysis reveals the pressure of political promotion affects RETI through reduced FDI, trade openness, and government intervention, with mediating effects of 0.054, 0.109, and 0.052, respectively.

Public Research and Development Funding for Renewable Energy Technologies in Europe: A Cross-Country Analysis

The European Union recognizes the vital role that innovation in renewable energy technologies plays in accelerating the energy transition. In the largest ever transnational research and innovation program, Horizon Europe (2021–2027), the EU allocated 35% of the total budget of €95.5 billion to green technology research. This paper examines public research and development (R&D) funding for renewable energy technologies in 17 European countries from 2000 to 2020 by analyzing its extent, composition, and effectiveness. While large economies lead in the size of total available public R&D support, Nordic countries lead when it comes to available public R&D funding relative to the sizes of their respective economies. Thereby, the share of the European Union’s funding within the total public R&D support available in each country is vastly heterogeneous across countries, ranging from 13% to 63%. Furthermore, based on detailed and recent data, the effectiveness of public R&D funding is estimated through a Negative Binomial Regression model with fixed effects. Overall, public R&D funding is confirmed as an effective driver of green innovation. Like in previous studies, limitations stem from restricted data availability and temporal uncertainty of innovation. These limitations are addressed, which shall incentivize future research and policymaking.

Dynamic interaction of renewable energy technological innovation, environmental regulation intensity and carbon pressure: Evidence from China

In 2020, China's carbon emissions were 10 billion tons, about 29% of global ones. As the largest carbon emitter in the world, China's heavy carbon emission pressure will affect not only its sustainable development, but also the global climate change situation and human survival. In order to achieve a positive interaction among renewable energy technological innovation, environmental regulation intensity and carbon pressure, and effectively alleviate China's carbon pressure, the dynamic interaction among the three aspects was investigated by taking 2008–2017 panel data of China mainland as the research sample, measuring carbon pressure level and renewable energy technological innovation, establishing panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model, and adopting impulse response function and variance decomposition. It was found that a mutual promoting effect exists between renewable energy technological innovation and environmental regulation intensity, and also between renewable energy technological innovation and carbon pressure, while a mutual inhibiting effect between environmental regulation intensity and carbon pressure. The variance decomposition results show that carbon stress level has the highest contribution to the long-term variance of renewable energy technological innovation except for the variable itself, which is 10.2%. Renewable energy technological innovation has the highest variance contribution to environmental regulation intensity, which is 8.2%, and environmental regulation intensity has the highest variance contribution to carbon stress level, which is 28.1%. The conclusions of present study are helpful to clarify the dynamic interaction among renewable energy technological innovation, environmental regulation intensity and carbon pressure, further improve environmental regulation policy and renewable energy technological innovation R&D decision-making, and provide an effective way for China and the world to alleviate carbon pressure.

Renewable energy technology innovation, industrial structure upgrading and green development from the perspective of China's provinces

Based on panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China from 2013 to 2019, this paper analyses the impacts of renewable energy technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading on green development using a spatial Durbin model (SDM). The results show that renewable energy technology innovation has a significant positive impact on green development, the rationalization of the industrial structure has a significant positive impact on the green development of the region, and the advancement of the industrial structure has a significant negative impact on the green development of the region. This article further examines the interactions between renewable energy technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading and finds that the combined effect of renewable energy technology innovation and the rationalization of the industrial structure inhibited their respective positive impacts on green development, resulting in a 1 + 1<2 effect. That is, there is a mutually exclusive effect between the two variables. The joint effect of renewable energy technological innovation and the advancement of the industrial structure can promote the positive impact of renewable energy technological innovation on green development while restraining the negative effect of the advancement of the industrial structure. There is a complementary effect between the two variables.

How does renewable energy technology innovation affect manufacturing carbon intensity in China?

Renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) is a crucial driver for promoting the manufacturing green transformation. However, few studies have explored the impact of RETI on manufacturing carbon intensity (MCI) from the perspective of spatial spillover and regional boundary. Based on the manufacturing panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2020, this study examines the mechanism, spatial spillover effects, regional boundaries, and industry heterogeneity of RETI on MCI using the spatial Durbin model. The results show that (1) RETI significantly inhibits local and neighboring MCI. (2) The spatial spillover effect of RETI on MCI has a significant regional boundary, which is inhibitory in the range of 800 km and shows a significant “half-decay” characteristic at 400 km. However, in the range of 800 to 1400 km, RETI significantly promotes neighboring MCI. (3) The inhibitory effect of RETI on MCI has temporal and regional heterogeneity, which gradually increases over time, and the effect from high to low is central, west, and east. (4) RETI has a significant inhibitory effect on MCI of pollution-intensive, high-income, capital-intensive, and labor-intensive manufacturing in local and neighboring areas, but it has a more negligible effect on non-pollution-intensive, low-income, and technology-intensive MCI. The findings provide empirical evidence for formulating targeted and differentiated policy in manufacturing low-carbon development.

Exploring the spatial pattern of renewable energy technology innovation: evidence from China.

Considering the obvious regional differences in China, research on the drivers for renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) needs to fully consider the spatial factors. Based on the expanded function of knowledge production, which includes the human capital, institutional quality, and industrial scale, and using panel data from 29 provinces during 2006-2017, this study examines the factors promoting RETI by employing spatial regression methods. The results show that RETI presents moderate spatial agglomeration and spatial heterogeneity. Human capital, enterprise R&D intensity, and research institution R&D intensity have a significant driving effect on the local RETI, and the university R&D intensity, institutional quality, and industrial scale have no significant contribution. Human capital is the most important factor driving the local RETI, and enterprise R&D intensity has the strongest spatial spillover effect on the RETI of the surrounding provinces. In addition, the R&D intensity of enterprises and research institutions can enhance the local RETI and also significantly promote RETI in surrounding provinces through the spatial spillover effect. In contrast, human capital has played a significant driving role in the local RETI, whereas its spatial spillover effect on the surrounding provinces is not obvious. Therefore, the direct and spatial spillover effects of enterprise R&D intensity and research institution R&D intensity should be fully considered in policy making. In addition, effective policies should be formulated to break the block division of human capital investment and to promote the optimized allocation of talented people in order to better promote RETI in China.

Toward a sustainable environment and economic growth in BRICS economies: do innovation and globalization matter?

Over the last few decades, environmental deterioration has accelerated significantly. Environmental degradation has been a subject of research across the world because of its impact on billions of people. However, there has been no international agreement on lowering the utilization of energy and CO2 emissions (CO2), while demand for fossil fuels grows in emerging economies. On the other hand, the recent COP26 summit brought all parties together to accelerate action toward reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Although previous research shows that international trade promotes positive socioeconomic outcomes, other experts argue that it contributes to natural resource shortages and ecological deterioration. Thus, the current research considers the effect of international trade, renewable energy use and technological innovation on consumption-based carbon emissions (CCO2), coupled with the role of financial development and economic growth in the BRICS economies between 1990 and 2018. Moreover, this research utilizes the common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG), augmented mean group (AMG) and Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) causality methods to assess these interrelationships. The study findings reveal that renewable energy use, exports and technological innovation mitigate CCO2, whereas economic growth and imports trigger CCO2 in the BRICS economies. The panel causality outcomes also reveal that all the variables except financial development can predict CCO2 emissions. Based on the study findings, we recommend the adoption of policies, regulations and the development of legislative frameworks that promote technological innovation and the shift toward sustainable energy.

Relationship between economic growth, renewable energy use, technological innovation, and carbon emission toward achieving Malaysia’s Paris agreement

Relationship between economic growth, renewable energy use, technological innovation, and carbon emission toward achieving Malaysia’s Paris agreement

Can renewable energy technology innovation alleviate energy poverty? Perspective from the marketization level

Energy poverty has a remarkable impact on socioeconomic development and human health. To identify energy poverty and further explore its influencing factors, this study uses 8239 households from 25 provinces from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) as the research object. First, the household energy poverty index (EPI) from 2012 to 2016 is measured. Second, the partially linear functional-coefficient (PLFC) model, which can capture individual heterogeneity, is employed to investigate how renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) alleviates energy poverty, also examining the role of marketization in the alleviation effect. The findings are as follows: (1) RETI significantly alleviates household energy poverty; (2) the alleviation effect of RETI on household EPI is affected by the marketization level (ML). In particular, when the ML is greater than 5.94, the alleviation effect is stronger; (3) under the influence of the ML, the alleviation effect exhibits a significant spatial heterogeneity. The eastern provinces exhibit the most significant alleviation effect. Finally, according to the nonparametric relationship between RETI and the EPI, we propose corresponding policy recommendations to alleviate household energy poverty.

Climate Vulnerability and Renewable Energy Technological Innovation: An Institutional Environment Perspective

Climate Vulnerability and Renewable Energy Technological Innovation: An Institutional Environment Perspective

Role of economic growth, renewable energy, and technological innovation to achieve environmental sustainability in Kazakhstan

Global climate change caused by Greenhouse gases (GHGs), particularly carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, poses incomparable threats to the environment, development, and sustainability. This research investigates the potential of economic growth, renewable energy use, and technological innovation to achieve environmental sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions in Kazakhstan. Time series data from 1996 to 2018 were utilized by applying the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) method. The DOLS estimate findings show that the coefficient of economic growth is positive and significant with CO2 emissions, indicating a 1% increase in economic growth is related to a 0.34% rise in CO2 emissions. Moreover, the estimated long-run coefficient of fossil fuel consumption is positive and significant which reveals that an increasing 1% of fossil fuel energy use is linked with a rising of 6.99% CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the coefficient of renewable energy use is negative and significant, which indicates that increasing renewable energy use by 1% is associated with CO2 emissions reduction by 0.38% in the long run. In addition, increasing technological innovation significantly lowers CO2 emissions, implying that a 1% increase in the number of patent applications is linked to a 0.15% reduction in CO2 emissions. The empirical findings reveal that economic growth and fossil fuel consumption increase CO2 emissions in Kazakhstan while increased renewable energy use and technological innovation help to achieve environmental sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions. This article provides policy recommendations aimed at a low-carbon economy, promoting renewable energy use, financing technological advancement, and environmental sustainability in Kazakhstan.