Lock-In Effects on the Energy Sector: Evidence from Hydrogen Patenting Activities

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to analyze how regulatory design and its framework’s topics, other than macroeconomic factors, might impact green innovation by taking into consideration a brand-new renewable source of energy that is becoming more and more important in recent years: hydrogen and fuel cell patenting activities. Such activities have been used as a proxy for green technological change in a panel data of 52 countries over a 6-year period. A series of sectorial, energy regulation, and macroeconomic variables were tested to assess their impact on that technological frontier of green energy transition policy. As might have been expected, the empirical analysis carried out with the model that was prefigured confirms significant evidence of lock-in effects on fossil fuel policies. The model confirms, however, another evidence: countries already investing in renewables might be willing to invest in hydrogen projects. A sort of reinforcement to the further development of green sustainable strategies seems to derive from having already concretely undertaken this direction. Future research should exploit different approaches to the research question and address the econometric criticalities mentioned in the paper, along with exploiting results of the paper with further investigations.

Carbon Emission Measurement of Prefabricated Buildings Based on LCA and Research on Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Strategy of Renewable Energy

“…Prefabricated buildings first appeared in the last century. At first, they were limited by technology, and the components produced were not fine enough, which led to some problems in operation, resulting in unsatisfactory safety and stability of prefabricated buildings in the early stage [10,11]. At present, with the continuous development of science and technology, although the construction technology and technology of prefabricated buildings still need to be improved, the components of prefabricated buildings all meet the relevant standards.…”

“…The equations for calculating energy saving rate and carbon emission intensity are presented in Equations ( 9) and (10), respectively. The formulas for assessing environmental quality index and comprehensive evaluation index are given in Equations ( 11) and (12).…”