Edinburgh Napier University

  Though the impacts of green innovation on reduction of carbon dioxide emissions have been an important topic for research on environmental economics, the previous studies ignore heterogeneity of the green innovation and how it might affect the carbon dioxide emissions. This paper identifies the alternative energy production innovation as the main factor from the green innovation which plays a core role in the reduction of CO2 emissions. It examines how the alternative energy production innovation affects the reduction of the carbon dioxide emission. It further analyzes the effects of the alternative energy production innovation on the CO2 emissions from different energy resources. Using a sample of 30 provinces in China during the period from the years of 1997-2017, we find the evidence that the alternative energy production innovation is positively related to the deduction of carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, the impacts of the alternative energy production 91 innovation show a heterogeneous effect on the deduction effects from different energy sources. The study contributes to the innovation theory on environmental economics.