IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v146y2025ics0140988325003755.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of artificial intelligence in renewable energy development: Insights from less developed economies

Author

Listed:
  • Zheng, Huanyu
  • Wu, Jie
  • Li, Runze
  • Song, Yanwu

Abstract

Global climate change and the growing pressure of energy transition pose complex challenges for less developed economies in achieving environmental sustainability. Artificial intelligence technology offers a promising avenue for advancing renewable energy development. This study analyzes the non-linear impact of AI technology on the renewable energy, drawing on AI patent data from 56 less developed economies from 2007 to 2022. The findings reveal a significant “inverted U-shaped” relationship. That is, AI initially drives renewable energy adoption, but as technological development reaches a certain threshold, its marginal benefits decline, potentially leading to negative effects. Moreover, institutional quality plays a crucial moderating role, with a strong rule of law enhancing AI's positive impact, while digital economic expansion exerts a weakening effect. Technological innovation acts as a key mediating mechanism, facilitating AI's influence on renewable energy adoption. Furthermore, the impact of AI varies across different renewable energy sources, with significant non-linear effects observed for biomass and wind energy, while its influence on solar and hydropower remains limited. These insights contribute to the literature on sustainable energy transitions and provide valuable policy implications for optimizing AI-driven renewable energy strategies in less developed economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Zheng, Huanyu & Wu, Jie & Li, Runze & Song, Yanwu, 2025. "The role of artificial intelligence in renewable energy development: Insights from less developed economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:146:y:2025:i:c:s0140988325003755
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108551
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988325003755
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2025.108551?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:146:y:2025:i:c:s0140988325003755. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.