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A novel approach for analyzing the effectiveness of the R&D capital for resource conservation: Comparative study on Germany and UK electricity sectors

Khajehpour, H ; Sharif University of Technology | 2020

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111792
  3. Publisher: Elsevier Ltd , 2020
  4. Abstract:
  5. Limited access to energy resources and increasing demand for mitigation of the environmental impacts have necessitated higher production efficiencies. Therefore, the promotion of R&D activities has been one of the main parts of national energy policies. In this research work, two methods are used for assessing the effectiveness of the R&D capital on resource conservation. First, by developing the resource-included knowledge production function of the energy sector and second, through direct assessment of the functionality of resource productivity from R&D capital. Based on official data provided by national statistical centers, a comparative analysis has been conducted to examine the effectiveness of R&D in the electricity generation sectors in the United Kingdom and Germany. In these analyses, non-renewable exergy cost is used as an index of resource depletion and environmental burden. It is shown that, due to non-economic energy transition policies, the inclusion of the R&D investment does not result in statistically meaningful elasticity of production for the R&D capital. However, according to the second method, it is shown that the R&D investment in the United Kingdom has been more effective in resource conservation than in Germany. Possible reasons for such differences are discussed and recommendations for further investigations are presented. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
  6. Keywords:
  7. Energy ; Environment ; Nonrenewable exergy cost ; R&D ; Conservation ; Economics ; Energy resources ; Environmental impact ; Investments ; Comparative analysis ; Electricity generation sectors ; Environmental burdens ; Knowledge production function ; National energy policy ; Production efficiency ; Resource conservation ; Resource productivity ; Natural resources management ; Capital ; Electricity generation ; Energy conservation ; Exergy ; International comparison ; Investment ; Research and development ; Germany ; United Kingdom
  8. Source: Energy Policy ; Volume 147 , 2020
  9. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421520305139