Role of domestic renewable energy plants in combating energy deficiency in developing countries. End-user perspective

Abstract

Energy crises and shattered economies are common issues in developing countries. The World is looking for green energy sources that help achieve a green economy and also help to fight against global warming, a common issue faced by the globe. Domestic renewable energy plants are a potential green energy source that can help combat energy crises, dwindling economies, and global warming. We have pointed out that the adoption of renewable energy plants at a domestic level is low. Hence, we have collected a cross-sectional dataset from one of the developing countries. 756 useable responses were used to test the proposed hypotheses and rank them according to their normalized importance by using the SEM-ANN hybrid approach. Results revealed that awareness of renewable energy plants, facilitating conditions, environmental knowledge, social influence, and perceived expectancy of renewable energy plants have significant positive. In contrast, cost value significantly negatively influences the behavioural​ intentions of developing countries’ consumers. Results also revealed a significant moderation effect of gender in the adoption of renewable energy plants at a domestic level. Awareness about renewable energy plants is crucial in adopting renewable energy plants domestically. Study findings have significant theoretical contributions and policy suggestions for governments and other stakeholders that will help them combat the energy crisis and achieve a sustainable green economy.

Keywords

• Renewable energy plants
• Developing countries
• Green economy
• Energy crisis
• SEM-ANN