Can mobile information communication technologies (ICTs) promote the development of renewables?-evidence from seven countries

The development of renewables has attracted abundant attentions. However, existing studies have not recognized the potential impetus of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on renewables. In this study, we explore the impact of mobile ICTs on renewable energy generations in seven countries including USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Poland. As revealed by static and dynamic empirical analyses of 19-year data, there exists significantly positive relationship between the renewables and ICTs at the macro-level. One percent increase of ICTs would lead to 0.2/1.1% increase for renewables in the long/short terms. Thus, ICTs can promote the development of renewables, and policy makers should consider full integration strategies between renewables and ICTs. Besides ICTs, factors positively affecting renewables include economic developments (long/short term), primary energy consumptions and carbon reductions (short term), and population growth (long term). Interestingly, natural gas competes with renewables in the short term, while it compliments renewables in the long term.

Automated summary

The study found that ICTs have a positive impact on the development of renewable energy, with analysis conducted on data from countries including the USA, Germany, and the UK showing a significant positive relationship between the two at a macro level. Additionally, it was discovered in the research that factors such as economic development, energy consumption, carbon reduction, and population growth also have a positive impact on the development of renewable energy, in addition to ICTs.