Regional sustainable and renewable energy development in China: A comprehensive assessment and influencing factors

In order to address regional energy imbalances, it is necessary to assess Sustainable and Renewable Energy (SRE) development and to explore its influencing factors. However, existing literature only focused on one part of the aforementioned solutions, and remained controversial, especially in China. Based on provincial panel data from 2005 to 2020 in China, this study utilized the information entropy method to construct a comprehensive evaluation system for regional SRE development, and a panel model with fixed effects was established, with this composite score as the dependent variable, and with economic, demographic, environmental, and technological factors as independent variables. The results showed regional SRE development deepened from the western to the eastern part of China, and over time. The empirical evidence indicated that the significant positive predictors of SRE development were disposable income per capita, dependency ratio, urbanization rate, railroad mileage, and technology market turnover while the value added of secondary sectors had a significant negative impact on SRE development. No empirical evidence supported the significant association between chemical oxygen demand emissions and SRE development. The founding can provide data support and theory references for policymakers of energy sectors.