The methodological approach adopted here uses both secondary and primary data [
49]. The main theme of this research is to emphasize the usage of renewable energy sources and the assessment of consumer’s acceptance and values for green energy sources [
50]. In the process of continuous effort towards reducing environmental depletion, there are many different approaches are triggered with the GREEN concept [
51]. The current research is built on the basis of secondary data showing the development in the usage of renewable energy sources worldwide but specifically the situation of India in green energy production [
52]. The concept of eco innovation or eco sustainability has been an addition to decision making for renewable energy sources to enhance the support to save the planet [
53,
54]. Eco innovation or sustainability is the indicator measuring the country’s participation in being innovative supporting ecological usage of product and service performance [
21]. This indicator is used to get a more critical evaluation on measuring the strength of the country to be sustainable [
55]. Furthermore, a survey is conducted to assess GREEN consumer values in renewable energy sources and eco innovations [
13,
30]. The research outcome expected to pivot on the theme of enhancing GREEN consumer values promoting the usage of renewable energy sources. The secondary data used reports and articles about renewable energy sources usage and future plan of countries all around the world [
56].
Conceptualization of this methodological approach using the secondary data as an explanatory base and primary data as an exploratory base is the core of this study [
57,
58]. We are living in a consumer centric world, where the consumer’s acceptance is the real implementation of any policy. Certainly, when it is about energy sector which is mostly government regulated and, in most cases, end consumers are obligated to consume. Still, the changing economy structure and shift of government ownership to private ownership or public-private partnerships are creating a wider space for consumer choices [
52]. The future is for consumers and they may have options to choose different energy sources as per their convenience and understanding [
26]. Automobiles are switching from the usage of traditional fuel to electric/electronic technology [
8]. The same is expected with all sectors and industries to align with the goal to be GREEN and pollution-free world [
44].
Our secondary report cites India’s commitment towards enhancing the industrial capacity fulfilling the domestic and export demands for goods and services [
44]. All industries consume huge amounts of energy by some means. Transformation in production system with energy efficiency and eco innovation is one way supporting the environment but another way is the choice of renewable energy sources [
18]. Renewable energy sources in India are receiving attention and securing a good position among world leading countries. India is holding second position in the world for its population which is only 17% of the world total population. Secondary data collected and presented for the trend analysis and the performance of countries on their contribution in the development of renewable energy sources [
59]. Reports published within last six years are incorporated to get the current picture and country’s motivation and efforts toward enhancement of green energy production [
6]. The study is using well-accepted index and score values to distinguish and compare the Indian performance with world leading country on the specific indicator.
Primary data are collected using the well-structured survey questionnaire having two parts a demographical data and another conceptual data collection [
13,
48]. GREEN consumer values are assessed on six items for each category of renewable energy sources [
13]. There are five renewable energy sources, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass, incorporated in the study. Altogether, thirty items are framed in the questionnaire. The questionnaire distributed using online platforms prepared with google forms [
60]. Simple random sampling is applied for sample collection [
61]. The data collected for this study reflets a sample of 669 respondents across India [
57,
62,
63,
64]. Primary data are analyzed using statistical test as mean, Anova, correlation and regression [
60,
63,
65,
66]. These statistical techniques are the best suited here for the assessment of GREEN consumer values of Indian consumers [
56,
62].
2.1. Secondary Data Trend
In July 2021, India ranked third comparing with all countries of the world on the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) ranking given by Earnest Young (EY). Only top ten countries landing in the ranking are incorporated in the study for the purpose of understanding about the contribution of India (
Table 2) during the year 2019. On this score US has been at the top where China scored the second position, followed by India [
6]. US and China have secured its earlier position, India, the UK, and France have moved up a rank by one, one and two points, respectively [
59]. RECAI score is a good base for self-assessment of country’s participation in renewable energy generation.
Table 2.
Country ranking on RECAI score.
Table 2.
Country ranking on RECAI score.
Country | Score | RECAI Rank | RECAI Rank Previous |
---|
US | 70.7 | 1 | 1 |
China Mainland | 68.7 | 2 | 2 |
India | 66.2 | 3 | 4 |
United Kingdom | 65.0 | 4 | 5 |
France | 64.8 | 5 | 7 |
Australia | 64.6 | 6 | 3 |
Germany | 63.8 | 7 | 6 |
Japan | 61.7 | 8 | 8 |
The Netherlands | 58.9 | 9 | 9 |
Spain | 58.6 | 10 | 10 |
Renewable energy sources are a key requirement for the world. All countries are participating in the switchover and moving towards opportunities with sustainability using renewable energy sources. The RECAI score has ranked many countries’ participation during year 2019, presented in 2021, generating renewable energy sources (
Table 3). The study incorporates five sources of renewable energy namely, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and biomass. RECAI scores are presented to specific renewable energy sources where solar is broken a solar photovoltaic (Solar PV) [
67], where India scores first, and solar concentrated solar power (Solar CSP) where China scores first [
68]. The U.S. score first ranking for both onshore and offshore wind energy. Another study reports the government incentives and promotion are important for investment in wind energy [
69]. China [
70] scores highest for hydro energy followed by Japan and India. Japan gains the highest score in geothermal energy generation followed by the U.S. on second rank. The UK and Japan are leaders and are very close to each other on scores as position one and two, respectively, for biomass energy and China and Germany are very close to each other on rankings three and four, respectively.
We must not forget that the determination of countries are one aspect of choosing the green energy sources [
71], but the geographical circumstances and exposure to natural resource abundance are the another and important criteria to implement the decision [
72]. Though all score is competitive among countries on the rank, respectively. All five renewable energy sources are showing higher score with most of the countries among top five rank shows the motivation towards green energy consumption. Countries are committed to the development of infrastructure and support for the renewable energy attracting more participants for the global benefit.
Table 3.
Renewable energy sources specific RECAI score.
Table 3.
Renewable energy sources specific RECAI score.
Country | Renewable Energy Sources Specific Scores |
---|
Solar Energy | Wind Energy | Hydro Energy | Geothermal Energy | Biomass Energy |
---|
| Solar PV | Solar CSP | Onshore | Offshore |
---|
US | 57.6 | 46.2 | 58.1 | 60.6 | 40.8 | 46.0 | 45.3 |
China Mainland | 60.3 | 54.3 | 55.7 | 55.6 | 54.5 | 31.7 | 52.8 |
India | 62.7 | 49.2 | 54.2 | 28.6 | 46.4 | 23.2 | 47.4 |
United Kingdom | 46.9 | 11.2 | 57.5 | 61.9 | 36.9 | 30.0 | 56.8 |
France | 53.3 | 22.4 | 55.1 | 53.5 | 43.9 | 37.3 | 48.4 |
Australia | 56.1 | 35.8 | 53.9 | 30.6 | 42.1 | 17.9 | 40.8 |
Germany | 53.0 | 11.5 | 49.0 | 51.5 | 42.9 | 37.2 | 51.2 |
Japan | 47.8 | 19.5 | 50.8 | 52.4 | 47.5 | 50.2 | 56.6 |
The Netherlands | 46.3 | 10.7 | 49.7 | 45.4 | 21.4 | 18.6 | 46.3 |
Spain | 50.7 | 28.0 | 48.7 | 27.5 | 32.7 | 14.6 | 38.2 |
India holds the second position in population and seventh position for largest total land area. A huge population has a high demand and consumption of all natural resources. Energy is the most common requirement which is directly or indirectly affecting all sectors. India was depending on hydro power since many years but with changing times explored the opportunity for many other energy sources [
18,
32]. The country is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals, 2030. The data which present the renewable energy production development since year 2014–2015 to 2019–2020 (
Table 4) show a year-on-year capacity enhancement for the renewable energy sources. Solar energy has gained the highest development in production of energy and shows the highest development on a year-on-year basis. The total energy utility also is growing with the growing population and industrial growth. The percentage contribution of renewable energy sources are also showing a good growth which strengthens belief in a sustainable future [
59].
Table 4.
Renewable energy generation trend in India.
Table 4.
Renewable energy generation trend in India.
Energy Sources | 2014–2015 | 2015–2016 | 2016–2017 | 2017–2018 | 2018–2019 | 2019–2020 |
---|
Solar Energy | 4.6 | 7.5 | 12.1 | 25.9 | 39.3 | 50.1 |
Wind Energy | 28.2 | 28.6 | 46.0 | 52.7 | 62.0 | 64.6 |
Hydro Energy Large | 129.2 | 121.4 | 122.3 | 126.1 | 135.0 | 156.0 |
Hydro Energy Small | 8.1 | 8.4 | 7.73 | 5.1 | 8.7 | 9.4 |
Biomass Energy | 15.0 | 16.7 | 14.2 | 15.3 | 16.4 | 13.9 |
Other Energy Sources | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Total | 191.0 | 187.2 | 204.1 | 228.0 | 261.8 | 294.3 |
Total Utility Energy | 1105 | 1168 | 1236 | 1303 | 1372 | 1385 |
Percentage Renewable Energy | 17.28% | 16.02% | 16.52% | 17.50% | 19.1% | 21.25% |
Hydro power was always the source of energy in India having the access to rivers and dams to generate electricity. As presented (
Figure 1), for the last six years, there has been growth in hydro energy generation, but not as much as other renewable energy sources. From 2014 to last year, the highest growth has shown in solar energy generation which is almost ten times more in six years. Wind energy generation also showing the double growth which is also a good development [
59]. Total green energy production year-on-year decreased for 2015–2016, except this year the total green energy production increased with a huge contribution from the solar, wind and hydro production.
Innovation is the catalyst to the implementation of environmentally friendly resources and technology. Eco innovation or the ecological sustainability assessment is very important to keeping a track on our move towards growth. A secondary data assessment performed to understand the countries participation for innovation on three indicators (
Table 5) as Global Innovation Index, Innovation Efficiency Ratio, and Innovation Input Sub-Index [
56]. This report is generated in 2020, where these three indicators are considered to be crucial to assessing any country’s involvement in innovation. Countries scoring the highest top ten ranks are presented (
Table 4) shows European countries Switzerland and Sweden at the top on Global Innovation Index followed by the USA and UK on 3rd and 4th rank, respectively. Again, European countries are holding strong position as Netherlands, Denmark and Finland are at 5th, 6th, and 7th position, respectively. China and Switzerland are leading with the same score on the Innovation Efficiency Ratio, followed by the Netherlands and UK on 3rd and 4th, respectively, followed by countries from European Union having the same score up to the 10th rank. Singapore and Switzerland are 1st and 2nd on Innovation Input Sub-Index score, followed by Sweden, the USA, Denmark, Hong Kong, the UK, Finland, Canada, and South Korea. Scores presented are near to each other for each consecutive ranked countries on specific indicators.
Table 5.
Country ranking on innovation indicators.
Table 5.
Country ranking on innovation indicators.
Country Rank | Global Innovation Index | Innovation Efficiency Ratio | Innovation Input Sub-Index |
---|
Country | Score | Country | Score | Country | Score |
---|
1 | Switzerland | 66.1 | China | 0.9 | Singapore | 70.2 |
2 | Sweden | 62.5 | Switzerland | 0.9 | Switzerland | 69.4 |
3 | USA | 60.6 | Netherlands | 0.8 | Sweden | 69.2 |
4 | UK | 59.8 | UK | 0.8 | USA | 68.8 |
5 | Netherlands | 58.8 | Ukraine | 0.8 | Denmark | 66.8 |
6 | Denmark | 57.5 | Sweden | 0.8 | Hong Kong | 66.0 |
7 | Finland | 57.0 | Germany | 0.8 | UK | 65.8 |
8 | Singapore | 56.6 | Luxembourg | 0.8 | Finland | 65.6 |
9 | Germany | 56.5 | Ireland | 0.8 | Canada | 64.8 |
10 | South Korea | 56.1 | Czech Republic | 0.8 | South Korea | 64.8 |
Ecological Sustainability and Research and Development are two sub indicators of innovation indicators (
Table 6) and are incorporated in the study to achieve clarity on the importance of eco innovation for countries. Ecological sustainability is the key for Estonia and Switzerland achieving 1st and 2nd rank, respectively. Further European countries are scoring high rankings with very close scores for Romania, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovakia in the ranking in descending order. Research and development is the indicator that represents countries’ motivation to go ahead with a sustainable future. South Korea is scoring the 1st rank with a high score followed by the USA and Israel at 2nd and 3rd rank, respectively, with a close comparative near scores. Switzerland, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, the UK, and Finland are the next ranked countries with a decreasing order of rank and score (
Table 5). Again, it is showing a strong positioning of European Union countries for the research and development. Although they are not the leading countries, still, they are following the sequence with near scores and shows their willingness to keep continue with Research and Development [
56]. These two sub-indicators are key to the eco innovation and sustainability which is the need of time to keep the environment protected and to save coming generations.
Table 6.
Country ranking on key sub-indicators.
Table 6.
Country ranking on key sub-indicators.
Country Rank | Ecological Sustainability | Research and Development |
---|
Country | Score | Country | Score |
---|
1 | Estonia | 60.9 | South Korea | 88.1 |
2 | Switzerland | 60.7 | USA | 77.1 |
3 | Romania | 60.1 | Israel | 77.0 |
4 | Czech Republic | 59.6 | Switzerland | 76.6 |
5 | Ireland | 59.6 | Japan | 74.9 |
6 | Bulgaria | 56.8 | Sweden | 74.0 |
7 | Crotia | 56.7 | Germany | 72.7 |
8 | Lithuania | 56.5 | Denmark | 71.8 |
9 | Malta | 56.1 | UK | 67.6 |
10 | Slovakia | 55.8 | Finland | 65.7 |
Innovation indicators are presented comparing India with the most highly ranked countries on specific indicators. Though India is performing very well for renewable energy sources (
Table 3 and
Table 4 and
Figure 1), specifically with solar, wind and hydro energy generation. Still, the rank on innovation indicators are very poor (
Table 7). The Global Innovation Index is led by Switzerland and India on rank 48 with much lower score. China is at the top position on the Innovation Efficiency Ratio while India is at 38th rank. Innovation Input Sub-Index is led by Singapore, where the rank of India is 57. Estonia is having the highest score and 1st position for ecological sustainability and India lands at 98th rank. Research and Development is the core for eco innovation where South Korea is at top position and India is at 35th position. Though on internal comparison of India itself among five indicators, India own position on Research and Development is comparative better than other four indicators [
56].
Table 7.
India rank comparing with first rank country on innovation indicators.
Table 7.
India rank comparing with first rank country on innovation indicators.
Indicators | First Rank Country | Score | India |
---|
Rank | Score |
---|
Global Innovation Index | Switzerland | 66.1 | 48 | 35.6 |
Innovation Efficiency Ratio | China | 0.9 | 38 | 0.6 |
Innovation Input Sub-Index | Singapore | 70.2 | 57 | 43.5 |
Ecological Sustainability | Estonia | 60.2 | 98 | 20.2 |
Research and Development | South Korea | 88.1 | 35 | 32.9 |
2.2. Primary Data Trend
Mean GREEN consumer values are calculated to understand the central tendency of responses (
Table 8), which is the presentation of inclination of most respondents. Here, the five renewable energy sources are presented vertically and the six items for each show their mean values on a five point Likert scale [
65]. Solar energy has scored values in-between 3.58 to 3.94 which is mostly closer to 4 which is agree on scale. Wind energy has the minimum as 3.59 and the maximum as 4.01, which is showing the acceptance of agree being close to 4 of the Likert scale value. Hydro energy ranges from 3.49 to 3.82 which is not exactly nearing 4 but still will fall in the same criteria of agree considering the scale. Geothermal energy gets the mean values from 3.54 to 3.86 which again somehow trailing towards 4 as agree on the used Likert scale. Biomass scores mean values from 3.46 to 3.79 the least in the category among five renewable energy sources. Mean values represent the acceptance of GREEN consumer values with ‘agree’ as the 4th value on are five-point Likert scale. Mean values are 3.76 (Wind Energy) > 3.75 (Solar Energy) > 3.73 (Geothermal Energy) > 3.66 (Hydro Energy) > 3.64 (Biomass Energy) showing the preference of consumers for Green Energy sources.
Table 8.
Mean GREEN consumer values for renewable energy sources.
Table 8.
Mean GREEN consumer values for renewable energy sources.
| Renewable Energy Sources | Solar Energy | Wind Energy | Hydro Energy | Geothermal Energy | Biomass Energy |
---|
Parameters | |
---|
It is important to me that the Energy I use do not harm the environment | 3.94 | 4.01 | 3.82 | 3.77 | 3.78 |
I consider the potential environmental impact of my actions when making the Energy usage decisions | 3.91 | 3.65 | 3.69 | 3.82 | 3.70 |
My Energy consumption habits are affected by my concern for our environment | 3.58 | 3.61 | 3.49 | 3.54 | 3.48 |
I am concerned about wasting the resources of our planet when I use Energy | 3.65 | 3.59 | 3.54 | 3.79 | 3.46 |
I would describe myself as environmentally responsible using Energy | 3.76 | 3.91 | 3.73 | 3.86 | 3.65 |
I am willing to be inconvenienced in order to accept Energy that are more environmentally friendly | 3.67 | 3.83 | 3.72 | 3.65 | 3.79 |
Mean | 3.75 | 3.76 | 3.66 | 3.73 | 3.64 |
Correlation test is showing the relation among the five renewable energy sources for GREEN consumer values. It is important to understand whether or not the different green energy resources display a relationship with one another as they all fall in the category of green energy resources. The five green energy sources incorporated in this study are presented as vertical columns and horizontal rows (
Table 9), where there cross meeting point is representing their correlation values [
63]. All correlation values are ranging in between 0.492 to 0.712 with each other except itself, which is always 1, and all correlation values are significant at the 0.01 level. Solar energy with Wind energy show the highest correlation as 0.712 and Solar energy with Hydro energy show the least correlation as 0.492. Other correlation values are under acceptable range satisfies the acceptance of data for further understanding.
Table 9.
Correlation of renewable energy sources.
Table 9.
Correlation of renewable energy sources.
Energy Sources | Solar Energy | Wind Energy | Hydro Energy | Geothermal Energy | Biomass Energy |
---|
Solar Energy | 1 | 0.712 ** | 0.492 ** | 0.521 ** | 0.609 ** |
Wind Energy | 0.712 ** | 1 | 0.619 ** | 0.522 ** | 0.571 ** |
Hydro Energy | 0.492 ** | 0.619 ** | 1 | 0.704 ** | 0.605 ** |
Geothermal Energy | 0.521 ** | 0.522 ** | 0.704 ** | 1 | 0.672 ** |
Biomass Energy | 0.609 ** | 0.571 ** | 0.605 ** | 0.672 ** | 1 |
An analysis of variance statistical test performed to understand the variance of five renewable energy sources: solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, geothermal energy and biomass energy with respect to gender, age, and education factors (
Table 10). Statistical values are presented for significance and F value are significant at the 0.05 level [
57]. The gender factor has shown a statistically significant
p value as 0.000 for all energy sources representing there is a difference in mean values except the solar energy where the
p value is 0.014. F values are ratios, where a higher value satisfies more on the opinion that there is a higher difference in mean values. Hydro energy (52.647) > geothermal energy (27.418) > wind energy (19.918) > biomass energy (14.496) > solar energy (6.014) are in the decreasing order of F value for the gender factor. The age factor shows a statically significant
p value as 0.00, 0.01 showing a significant difference in mean value, except one insignificant as 0.34 shows there is no difference in mean value. F values solar energy (4.300) > wind energy (3.461) > biomass energy (3.399) > hydro energy (3.362) > geothermal energy (1.100) for age factor are presented in decreasing order. The education factor has all
p values being statistically significant as 0.000 which shows there is a significant difference in mean value. Education factor shows F value as biomass energy (29.350) > hydro energy (28.109) > geothermal energy (12.291) > wind energy (11.649) > solar energy (10.783) in decreasing order.
Table 10.
Anova renewable energy sources with factors.
Table 10.
Anova renewable energy sources with factors.
| Factors | Gender | Age | Education |
---|
Energy Sources | |
---|
| F | Sig. | F | Sig. | F | Sig. |
---|
Solar Energy | 6.014 | 0.014 | 4.300 | 0.005 | 10.783 | 0.000 |
Wind Energy | 19.918 | 0.000 | 3.461 | 0.016 | 11.649 | 0.000 |
Hydro Energy | 52.647 | 0.000 | 3.362 | 0.018 | 28.109 | 0.000 |
Geothermal Energy | 27.418 | 0.000 | 1.100 | 0.348 | 12.291 | 0.000 |
Biomass Energy | 14.496 | 0.000 | 3.399 | 0.018 | 29.350 | 0.000 |
Renewable energy sources are assumed as dependent variables which are latent variables measured for the correlation and effect with the five individual energy sources solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, geothermal energy, and biomass energy as independent variables. All tests are highly significant with 0.000 under the
p < 0.05 [
65]. All energy sources have B and Beta values very close to each other for their specific category (
Table 11). Geothermal energy (0.587) > solar energy (0.583) > wind energy (0.565) > biomass energy (0.556) > hydro energy (0.555) is in the decreasing order of B values which is the effect on dependent variable Renewable energy sources. Beta is the correlation values of these five sources are biomass energy (0.840) > hydro energy (0.832) > wind energy (0.829) > geothermal energy (0.827) > solar energy (0.802) with the dependent variable renewable energy sources.
Table 11.
Regression analysis renewable energy sources with factors.
Table 11.
Regression analysis renewable energy sources with factors.
| Independent Variables | Dependent Variable Renewable Energy Sources |
---|
Predictor | | B | Beta | Sig. |
---|
Solar Energy | 0.583 | 0.802 | 0.000 |
Wind Energy | 0.565 | 0.829 | 0.000 |
Hydro Energy | 0.555 | 0.832 | 0.000 |
Geothermal Energy | 0.587 | 0.827 | 0.000 |
Biomass Energy | 0.556 | 0.840 | 0.000 |