International diffusion of renewable energy innovations

The international diffusion of environmental innovations is getting increasing attention as an opportunity to improve competitiveness. Especially in the energy sector, countries use policy support to this end. A recent goal in this context is the formation of "lead markets", which represen...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Subtil Lacerda, Juliana, Van den Bergh, Jeroen|||0000-0003-3415-3083
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:146642
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/146642
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.3390/en7128236
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Climate change
Competitiveness
Renewable energy
Policy support
Descripción
Sumario:The international diffusion of environmental innovations is getting increasing attention as an opportunity to improve competitiveness. Especially in the energy sector, countries use policy support to this end. A recent goal in this context is the formation of "lead markets", which represents the idea that countries can build up first-mover advantages that will increase their competitiveness. Taking the lead in international diffusion of a particular innovation benefits a country's industry through creating increasing returns of technological development and stimulating exports to expanding international markets. Interaction between national and international forces affecting renewable energy innovation and its diffusion has received fairly little attention so far. Here, we investigate the formation of lead markets for wind power technologies in China, Germany and the USA to see whether policy support of renewable energy innovation is capable of improving competitiveness. An extension of the current lead market framework is developed to include supply side factors and technology policy issues. The comparative analysis of lead market potential for wind power indicates a high level of internationalization of the industry with countriesholding lead positions in specific parts the supply chain. Competitive advantages were built upon policy support but tended to shift among countries.