IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/revfec/v42y2024i4p467-490.html

Finance for sustainability: A systematic review on crowdfunding for renewable energy projects

Author

Listed:
  • Abhishek Mukherjee
  • Paul Griffiths
  • Paresha Sinha
  • Sahil Deol

Abstract

This systematic literature review examines the existing research on crowdfunding for renewable energy (RE) projects, with the purpose of identifying the factors that influence the need and the success of such crowdfunding campaigns, and the findings discuss the potential role of the public sector, and offer future research directions. The review synthesizes and analyses findings from 33 peer‐reviewed articles published between 2016 and 2023 in leading journals like the Journal of Cleaner Production, Energy Economics, and Journal of Business Research. The results show that crowdfunding can be an effective source of financing for RE projects, particularly in developing countries where traditional financing options are limited. The review identifies financial characteristics, communication and marketing strategies, media coverage, project category, and message framing as key factors that influence the success of crowdfunding campaigns for RE projects. The potential role of the public sector in supporting crowdfunding is also discussed, including creating an enabling environment, providing funding and technical assistance, promoting the benefits of RE and crowdfunding, addressing regulatory and information barriers, and collaborating with other stakeholders. Finally, the review identifies compelling areas for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Abhishek Mukherjee & Paul Griffiths & Paresha Sinha & Sahil Deol, 2024. "Finance for sustainability: A systematic review on crowdfunding for renewable energy projects," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(4), pages 467-490, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:revfec:v:42:y:2024:i:4:p:467-490
    DOI: 10.1002/rfe.1211
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/rfe.1211
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/rfe.1211?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bourcet, Clémence & Bovari, Emmanuel, 2020. "Exploring citizens' decision to crowdfund renewable energy projects: Quantitative evidence from France," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Othmar M. Lehner & Alex Nicholls, 2014. "Social finance and crowdfunding for social enterprises: a public-private case study providing legitimacy and leverage," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 271-286, July.
    3. Dudka, Aurore & Moratal, Nuria & Bauwens, Thomas, 2023. "A typology of community-based energy citizenship: An analysis of the ownership structure and institutional logics of 164 energy communities in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    4. Rotem Shneor & Liang Zhao & Bjørn-Tore Flåten, 2020. "Introduction: From Fundamentals to Advances in Crowdfunding Research and Practice," Springer Books, in: Rotem Shneor & Liang Zhao & Bjørn-Tore Flåten (ed.), Advances in Crowdfunding, edition 1, chapter 1, pages 1-18, Springer.
    5. Paul David Richard Griffiths & Patricia Baudier, 2023. "Enabling Responsible Banking through the Application of Blockchain," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 17-49.
    6. Vismara, Silvio, 2019. "Sustainability in equity crowdfunding," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 98-106.
    7. Kazem Mochkabadi & Christine K. Volkmann, 2020. "Equity crowdfunding: a systematic review of the literature," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 75-118, January.
    8. Siebeneicher, Sven & Yenice, Ilker & Bock, Carolin, 2022. "Financial-Return Crowdfunding for Energy and Sustainability in the German-Speaking Realm," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 135658, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    9. Cumming, Douglas J. & Leboeuf, Gael & Schwienbacher, Armin, 2017. "Crowdfunding cleantech," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 292-303.
    10. Sven Siebeneicher & Ilker Yenice & Carolin Bock, 2022. "Financial-Return Crowdfunding for Energy and Sustainability in the German-Speaking Realm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-23, September.
    11. Jerry Coakley & Aristogenis Lazos, 2021. "New Developments in Equity Crowdfunding: A Review," Review of Corporate Finance, now publishers, vol. 1(3-4), pages 341-405, July.
    12. Naoyuki Yoshino & Tim Schloesser & Farhad Taghizadeh‐Hesary, 2021. "Social funding of green financing: An application of distributed ledger technologies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 6060-6073, October.
    13. René Vásquez-Ordóñez, Luis & Lassala, Carlos & Ulrich, Klaus & Ribeiro-Navarrete, Samuel, 2023. "Efficiency factors in the financing of renewable energy projects through crowdlending," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    14. Knauf, Jakob & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2023. "Crowdsourcing social acceptance: Why, when and how project developers offer citizens to co-invest in wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    15. Faten Ben Slimane & Antoine Rousseau, 2020. "Crowdlending Campaigns for Renewable Energy: Success Factors," Post-Print hal-02371926, HAL.
    16. Paul Belleflamme & Thomas Lambert & Armin Schwienbacher, 2013. "Individual crowdfunding practices," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 313-333, October.
    17. Sascha Kraus & Matthias Breier & Sonia Dasí-Rodríguez, 2020. "The art of crafting a systematic literature review in entrepreneurship research," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1023-1042, September.
    18. Paul David Richard Griffiths & Patricia Baudier, 2023. "Enabling Responsible Banking through the Application of Blockchain," Post-Print hal-04314445, HAL.
    19. Bergmann, Ariel & Burton, Bruce & Klaes, Matthias, 2021. "European perceptions on crowdfunding for renewables: Positivity and pragmatism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    20. Alice Rossi & Tom Vanacker & Silvio Vismara, 2021. "Equity Crowdfunding: New Evidence from US and UK Markets," Review of Corporate Finance, now publishers, vol. 1(3-4), pages 407-453, July.
    21. Guillochon, Justine, 2022. "The role of media, policy and regional heterogeneity in renewable energy project crowdfunding," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    22. Wüstenhagen, Rolf & Menichetti, Emanuela, 2012. "Strategic choices for renewable energy investment: Conceptual framework and opportunities for further research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-10.
    23. Francesca Simeoni & Veronica De Crescenzo, 2018. "Ecomuseums (on Clean Energy), Cycle Tourism and Civic Crowdfunding: A New Match for Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-16, March.
    24. Othmar M. Lehner, 2013. "Crowdfunding social ventures: a model and research agenda," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 289-311, October.
    25. Mollick, Ethan, 2014. "The dynamics of crowdfunding: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-16.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Reza-Gharehbagh, Raziyeh & Pullman, Madeleine, 2026. "Sustainable product development under profit-sharing crowdfunding: an analytical approach to market structure and government policy," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 328(2), pages 704-724.
    2. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Eti, Serkan & Yüksel, Serhat & Dinçer, Hasan & Çırak, Ayşe Nur, 2026. "A multi-criteria decision-making framework for enhancing renewable energy productivity," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    3. Rizwan, Amina & Hanif, Muhammad Shehzad & Khan, Talha Zubair Ahmad, 2025. "Laying the foundations of technology startups– An inquiry of crowd-funding investment decisions in a developing country," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Gang Kou & Serkan Eti & Serhat Yüksel & Hasan Dinçer & Merve Acar & Edanur Ergün & Harun Çetinkaya, 2026. "Advancing financial innovation in energy poverty solutions: a koch snowflake-based fuzzy decision support system," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Amelia Bilbao-Terol & Verónica Cañal-Fernández & Carmen González-Pérez, 2026. "Improving the assessment of social and environmental impacts of RE projects for financial institutions," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 1-54, June.
    6. Żywiołek, Justyna & Wolniak, Radosław & Zhao, Xin & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul, 2026. "Public perceptions of crowdfunding as a tool for financing renewable energy in Europe," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 209(PA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bartoli, Chiara & Annosi, Maria Carmela & Orero, Levi & Brunetta, Federica, 2025. "Crowdfunding for sustainability: Key elements driving crowdfunding success across economic, social, and environmental goals," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Carè, R. & Fatima, R. & Cerciello, M. & Taddeo, S., 2025. "Exploring the landscape of green crowdfunding: Trends, themes, and insights from a bibliometric review," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Alsagr, Naif & Cumming, Douglas J. & Davis, Justin G. & Sewaid, Ahmed, 2023. "Geopolitical risk and crowdfunding performance," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Ari, Ibrahim & Koc, Muammer, 2021. "Philanthropic-crowdfunding-partnership: A proof-of-concept study for sustainable financing in low-carbon energy transitions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    5. Saurav Chandra Talukder & Zoltán Lakner, 2023. "Exploring the Landscape of Social Entrepreneurship and Crowdfunding: A Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    6. Sven Siebeneicher & Ilker Yenice & Carolin Bock, 2022. "Financial-Return Crowdfunding for Energy and Sustainability in the German-Speaking Realm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-23, September.
    7. Penz, R. Frederic & Hörisch, Jacob & Tenner, Isabell, 2022. "Investors in environmental ventures want good money—and a clean conscience: How framing, interest rates, and the environmental impact of crowdlending projects influence funding decisions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    8. Susana Bernardino & J. Freitas Santos, 2015. "Financing social ventures by crowdfunding: the influence of entrepreneurs’ personality traits," NIPE Working Papers 12/2015, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    9. Swati Oberoi & Rohit Joshi & Atul Mehta & Smita Srivastava & Vishal K. Gupta, 2024. "Crowdfunding Research: Critical Analysis and Constructive Agenda for Future Inquiry," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 33(3), pages 651-699, August.
    10. Tanja Jovanović, 2019. "Crowdfunding: What Do We Know So Far?," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(01), pages 1-25, February.
    11. Dinh, Jeannette Mai & Isaak, Andrew Jay & Yahyaoui, Yasmine, 2024. "Investing for good – Uncovering crowd investors' motivations to participate in sustainability-oriented crowdlending," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    12. Lin, Boqiang & Li, Minyang, 2024. "Micro Mechanisms Driving China's Clean Energy Flourish: Business Expansion and Financing," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    13. René Vásquez-Ordóñez, Luis & Lassala, Carlos & Ulrich, Klaus & Ribeiro-Navarrete, Samuel, 2023. "Efficiency factors in the financing of renewable energy projects through crowdlending," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PB).
    14. Lazos, Aristogenis, 2025. "When policy makers want to protect investors in equity crowdfunding: Does it have regional implications?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    15. Hörisch, Jacob & Tenner, Isabell, 2020. "How environmental and social orientations influence the funding success of investment-based crowdfunding: The mediating role of the number of funders and the average funding amount," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    16. Dandan Wang & Jörg Prokop, 2025. "Gender homophily and local bias in equity crowdfunding," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 805-836, March.
    17. Lars Hornuf & Johannes Voshaar, 2024. "What Is an Effective Signal in Crowdfunding? Evidence from Expert Researchers and a Meta-Study," CESifo Working Paper Series 11501, CESifo.
    18. Bento, Nuno & Gianfrate, Gianfranco & Groppo, Sara Virginia, 2019. "Do crowdfunding returns reward risk? Evidences from clean-tech projects," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 107-116.
    19. Bagheri, Afsaneh & Chitsazan, Hasti & Ebrahimi, Ashkan, 2019. "Crowdfunding motivations: A focus on donors' perspectives," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 218-232.
    20. Stefania Testa & Paolo Roma & Maria Vasi & Silvano Cincotti, 2020. "Crowdfunding as a tool to support sustainability‐oriented initiatives: Preliminary insights into the role of product/service attributes," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 530-546, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:revfec:v:42:y:2024:i:4:p:467-490. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1873-5924 .

    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.