Identification and prioritization of factors affecting the transition to renewables in developing economies

Abstract

There is a rapid increase in energy demand across several developing economies all over the world. This can be attributed to population growth, industrialization, urbanization, globalization, and occasional unforeseen events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in which operations, functions, and activities are mostly executed virtually. With a major transition to renewables by developed economies to meet their energy obligations and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, developing economies are left with no choice but to join the transition in a bid to uphold the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG13-Climate Action). This study has identified and prioritized barriers to renewable energy transition in developing economies. The Hybrid Structural Interaction Matrix (HSIM) was utilized to employ the weight based prioritization model with hierarchical structural layout of the interacting renewable energy transition barriers. This study will be of great benefit to policymakers and academics in making informed decisions on measures to fast-track the transition to renewables in developing economies by considering weighted prioritized driving forces for optimum resource allocation.