ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Policy and Governance
Can Smart Energy Systems Drive Regional Low-Carbon Technology Innovation? Evidence from China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xinyang University, Xinyang, China
- 2The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - Guangzhou Campus, Guangzhou, China
- 3Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
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The rapid development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence has provided a technical foundation for the construction of smart energy systems. Given this context, it is critical to examine whether smart energy systems can promote regional low-carbon transformation and technological innovation. To this end, this study takes China's "Internet +" smart energy pilot projects launched in 2017 as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on county-level panel data from 2011 to 2023, the study employs a difference-in-differences model to investigate the impact of smart energy systems on regional low-carbon technology innovation. The study finds three key results. First, smart energy systems can significantly promote regional low-carbon technology innovation. Second, the mechanism analysis through the moderating effect shows that this promotion effect is achieved by eliminating backward production capacity and strengthening green regulatory frameworks and environmental protection behaviors. Third, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promotion effect is stronger in eastern China, regions with a higher proportion of the secondary industry, and regions with a higher degree of marketization. In addition, the study also finds that along with low-carbon technology innovation, smart energy systems significantly reduce regional carbon emission intensity, but have no significant impact on total carbon emissions. This study provides empirical evidence from China for smart energy systems to drive low-carbon transformation and offers policy suggestions for further optimizing smart energy systems.
Keywords: Difference-in-differences model, Eliminating Backward Production Capacity, environmental protection behaviors, Low-carbon technology innovation, Smart energy systems
Received: 03 Nov 2025; Accepted: 07 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Gao, Li and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chengcheng Zhu
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