India's renewable energy: New insights from multi-regional input output and structural decomposition analysis

As a developing country, Indian energy scenario has perennially been plagued by problems like energy deficit, threats to energy security and low energy efficiency. Raising the supply of renewable energy is the key way for India to solve this dilemma. The formulation of effective renewable energy policies requires a comprehensive understanding of the evolution and drivers of the renewable energy consumption in India. Based on multi-regional input-output model (MRIO) and structural decomposition analysis (SDA), this study identified India's renewable energy consumption patterns and its transition drivers. The results shown that there was not much difference between the renewable energy consumption of India in the production-based and consumption-based, both of which were dominated by domestic consumption. However, the development of globalization had made the influence of international trade on India 's renewable energy consumption no longer negligible. Developing countries had gradually become the main destinations and sources of India's exported and imported renewable energy. From the perspective of driving force, in terms of domestic consumption, the upward influence of the unit growth of India's per capita final demand was weakening. As far as the renewable energy embodied in exports and imports, the energy intensity effect and the per capita final demand effect of developing countries had more contributions compared with developed countries. Therefore, India should attach more attention to the cooperation with developing countries in the field of renewable energy, and increase the efficiency and share of renewable energy consumption to offset the weakening of demand-driven. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

India's energy scenario has long been plagued by deficit, security threats, and low efficiency, and the key to solving this dilemma lies in developing renewable energy supply. The study identifies that India's consumption of renewable energy is dominated by domestic consumption, but international trade is playing an increasingly important role. Developing countries have a greater contribution to India's renewable energy consumption, and India should focus on cooperation with these countries to increase efficiency and consumption of renewable energy.