Transition towards a green economy in Europe: Innovation and knowledge integration in the renewable energy sector

Determining the green technology innovation accelator and natural resources towards decarbonization for the EU countries: evidence from MMQR

Gearing up for green technology innovation (GTI) and natural resources has become even more important in the transition to a zero-emission life, a green economy, and sustainable development goals. This attempt has become a situation that needs to be overpowered much sooner by the European countries, which have encountered challenges in many ways, especially regarding natural resources, energy supply, and the climate crisis. In this vein, the current study follows the novel, robust Method of Moment Quantile-Regression (MM-QR), which successfully yields heterogeneous information structure across quantiles, to examine the determinants of GTI for 15 EU countries over the period of 2003-2018. MM-QR estimation results indicate that the determinants of green technology innovation are heterogeneous across the EU countries. While green growth (GG) has an adverse impact on GTI in middle- and high-GTI countries, the effect of ecological footprint on GTI is positive for countries in the highest-GTI countries. The positive effects of financial development (FD) on GTI are revealed for all countries. Remarkably, environmental taxes have an adverse and positive influence on GTI in the lowest and highest quantile countries, respectively. Finally, renewable energy and greenfield FDI have no effect on GTI. Governments can promote GTI by providing financial resources, in the most immaculate way, to firms that engage in green technology projects, as well as by encouraging these through environmental taxes.

Greening the digital revolution: assessing the impact of digital transformation on green total factor productivity in Chinese enterprises

The green digital revolution has changed the production mode of enterprises. This article explores the green value of digital transformation. The study calculates the digital transformation index and green total factor productivity (EGTFP) index of Chinese enterprises from 2012 to 2021 and uses a panel data model and intermediary effect to conduct empirical tests. The results show that digital transformation has a positive impact of 0.371 units on the EGTFP. This positive effect is proven to be stable after distinguishing between substantive and tactical digital transformation, where the effect of substantive digital transformation increases over time. At the same time, enterprise property rights and location affect the role of digital transformation; moreover, digital transformation performs better when grouping the nonstate-owned enterprises and the eastern region. In addition, energy efficiency, green technology innovation, and environmental responsibility are important intermediaries, as digital transformation can affect EGTFP by improving energy efficiency, promoting green technology innovation, and strengthening environmental responsibility. These research conclusions help evaluate the economic and environmental effects of digital transformation and provide empirical evidence for the high-quality development of enterprises.

Biogas Upgrading by CO2 Methanation with Ni-, Ni–Fe-, and Ru-Based Catalysts

This piece of work dealt with the concept of ‘biogas upgrading’ or enrichment of the CH4 contained in a sweetened biogas to proportions and features comparable to those of synthetic natural gas (SNG). For this, the behavior of three lab made catalysts (Ni/Al2O3, Ru/Al2O3, and Ni–Fe/Al2O3) was tested in a CO2 methanation reaction (Sabatier reaction) under different feeding conditions (with and without methane). In the first set of experiments (without methane), the good catalytic behavior of the solids was validated. All three catalysts offered similar and increasing CO2 conversions with increasing temperature (range studied from 250 to 400 °C) at a constant WHSV of 30 × 103 STPmL·gcat−1·h−1. The CH4 selectivity remained close to one in all cases. Considering their total metallic load, the Ru (3.7 wt%)-based catalyst stood out remarkably, with TOF values that reached up to 5.1 min−1, this being six or three times higher, than those obtained with the Ni (10.3 wt%) and Ni–Fe (7.4–2.1 wt%) catalysts, respectively. In the second set (cofeeding methane), and also for the three catalysts, a high correspondence between the conversions (and selectivities) obtained with both types of feeds was observed. This indicated that the addition of CH4 to the system did not severely modify the reaction mechanism, resulting in the possibility of taking advantage of the ‘biogas upgrading’ process by using H2 produced off-peak by electrolysis. In order to maximize the CH4 yield, temperatures in the range from 350–375 °C and a H2:CO2 molar ratio of 6:1 were determined as the optimal reaction conditions.

Assay of renewable energy transition: A systematic literature review

Issues of environmental degradation, finite quantity and uneven spatial distribution of fuels in nature, and growing demand accentuated by volatility of oil prices have led to the global clean renewable energy transition (RET). With an objective of examining the current knowledge-stock on RET, we reviewed 248 journal publications pooled from three databases (ScienceDirect, Web of Science and Scopus) using a Systematic Literature Review method. This study does not focus on the specifications of a particular energy technology or regress relations among a limited set of variables. Rather, the key contribution is the critical assessment of the factors that encourage and those that hinder the transition process to provide a wider perspective through seven broad lenses: technological, investment, market, environmental, government and institutional, policy and social. Research, development and implementation of technology is a direct outcome of policy investment. Developed countries are leading the RET research while the global south is far behind. Most of the studies were found to be donor-driven which faced a serious risk of being counter-welcomed in different settings of the world without compromising the objectives of the transition. A strong international collaboration among the rich and poor countries is urgently felt necessary to foster mutual benefits. Research, planning and implementation of the RET would be highly effective and sustainable through a participatory bottom-up approach promoting local technology instead of imposed expensive imported ones. The need for "demand-pull" and "technology-push" policy instruments is stringent for successful transition. We conclude that there is a unanimous agreement among all the studies on the future prospects of renewable energy in the electricity sector; however, some skepticism still exists regarding other high energy demanding areas. Our review recommends updating existing and designing new robust policy mixes to guide the modality and pace of the RET, adhering to local specificities.

Energy R&D trends and sustainable energy strategies in IEA countries: efficiency, dependency, and environmental dynamics

Understanding the factors affecting R&D trends in the energy sector has a key role in overcoming environmental concerns such as combating climate change, as well as other economic and political problems related to energy. Based on such concerns, this study aims to analyze fundamental factors that determine the energy R&D trends of 29 International Energy Agency (IEA) countries. The data set, consisting of annual indicators for the period 1990-2015, is analyzed with the Driscoll-Kraay panel data estimator. Empirical findings for overall sample show that efficiency, import dependency, and the share of renewable energy use are positively related with R&D expenditure in energy sector. CO₂ intensity is found to be statistically insignificant. When countries are grouped considering their energy composition structures, the dynamics of energy R&D expenditures differ between groups. In overall evaluation, our findings illustrate efficiency and dependency to have greater priority compared to environmental dynamics on energy R&D expenditures for IEA countries during the period.

The relationship between socioeconomic development, renewable energies and the innovative process

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the relationships between socioeconomic development, renewable energy and the innovative process by providing: a descriptive analysis; a co-occurrence analysis of terms, thematic mapping and conceptual structure; and the typology of the textual corpus.

Design/methodology/approach

To analyze the relationship between “renewable energies, socioeconomic development and the innovative process,” it is necessary to build a theoretical foundation that contains the relevant scientific studies and reflects the current state of the art on the subject. For this, this study developed a systematic literature review (SLR) using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses research protocol to answer the relationship on the theme.

Findings

Research shows a global understanding of the need to invest in developing studies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and improve economic growth. The main contributions lie in providing a typology of the state of the art, identifying the joint relationships between themes, insights into the key themes and indicating themes that must be developed. This study may also support future empirical studies as it provides a theoretical foundation for formulating hypotheses, which can be tested through qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Originality/value

The innovative character consists of addressing a shortage of SLRs on this theme. Thus, this paper fills this gap by providing a theoretical foundation for future scientific and academic knowledge generation. Furthermore, regarding the interdisciplinary aspects of this research as contributions, this paper presented different approaches and theoretical perspectives.

Analysing the interrelationship of knowledge creation and diffusion challenges of renewable energy technologies development in Iran

Purpose

This paper aims at identifying knowledge creation and diffusion challenges and explaining their causal relationship in renewable energy technologies in Iran.

Design/methodology/approach

By reviewing literature of renewable energy technologies development, key knowledge creation and diffusion challenges are extracted. Then, the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory method is used to investigate the cause-effect relationships as well as the influence structure of aforementioned challenges in Iran.

Findings

The results indicate that lack of specialized higher education and research institutions (C4), limited international product development and technological cooperation with international pioneer firms (C8), insufficient international research interactions of institutions and academic research centres (C6), tight and temporary subsidies to domestic institutes (C13), limited and non-systematic government grants (C14), insufficient tax incentives with low impact on investment (C12), weak enforcement of intellectual property rights (C5), low number and relatively poor performance of NGOs and scientific and trade associations (C19) and the limited number of conferences, workshops, meetings and specialized journals (C15) are among the most instrumental challenges of knowledge creation and diffusion of renewable energy technologies development in Iran.

Originality/value

This paper identifies knowledge creation and diffusion challenges of renewable energy technologies development in Iran, which is applicable for other developing countries. It also analyses the interrelationship and causal effect between challenges which is a neglected issue in the literature and has beneficial theoretical and policy implications.

Organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer in cross-border M&As: the mediating role of knowledge integration from a routine-based view

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationships between organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) from a routine-based view. The study also stresses the mediating role that knowledge integration capability plays in this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

In all, 178 samples were collected from Chinese multinational corporations that experienced cross-border M&As. In addition, the bootstrap method was used to test the mediating role of knowledge integration capability.

Findings

The empirical results indicate that knowledge integration capability is the crucial link between organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer. Specifically, this capability goes beyond the direct effect of organizational unlearning on knowledge transfer and points to the importance of enhancing knowledge integration capability. In turn, knowledge integration capability has a significant influence on knowledge transfer. The study finds that knowledge integration capability mediates the relationship between organizational unlearning and knowledge transfer.

Originality/value

This study adopts a routine-based view to develop a theoretical model for examining the relationship between organizational unlearning, knowledge integration capability and knowledge transfer in the context of cross-border M&As. This model provides new insights for a routine-based understanding of the important mediating role of knowledge integration capability for knowledge transfer and the effects of this role on the specific knowledge transfer, i.e. technological, marketing and managerial knowledge.

Exploring the Effects of Government Policies on Economic Performance: Evidence Using Panel Data for Korean Renewable Energy Technology Firms

Previous studies have investigated how government policies on renewable energy technology (RET) affect economic performance at the industrial level. However, each firm in the RET industry is heterogeneous in terms of their capacities, resources, and the amount of public subsidies they receive. Considering the context in which public subsidies are provided to firms, this study econometrically investigates the effects of government policies on firms’ financial performance using panel data from the Korean RET industry. We consider the results of various panel framework tests; establish a panel vector autoregressive model in first differences; and test the dynamic relationships between firms’ financial performance, government subsidies (R&D- and non-R&D-related), firm size and age, and organizational slack, using a bias-corrected least squares dummy variable estimator. We find that R&D- and non-R&D-related subsidies positively affect firms’ financial performance in the long run. In the short run, there are bidirectional positive causal relationships between firms’ financial performance and organizational slack (and non-R&D-related subsidy), and firm size and non-R&D-related subsidy. A positive short-run relationship runs from R&D-related subsidy to firms’ financial performance, from firm age to non-R&D-related subsidy, and from firm size to firm age. Further, there are dynamic effects in all estimations, demonstrating that the dependent variables of the previous period enhance their values in the current period. The results provide some policy and strategic implications.