Bibliometric and Visual Analyses of Low Carbon Technology Innovations: Developments, Hotspots, and Trends

Abstract

As low carbon globalization advances, low carbon technological innovation is attracting attention, and more efforts are being invested in technology-driven decarbonization of the economy. Low carbon globalization requires the optimal allocation of national scientific and technological resources on a global scale, which is the newest and fastest growing area of economic globalization, and therefore requires attention to low carbon technological innovation. In this paper, an in-depth bibliometric and visualization analysis based on 205 articles from the Web of Science core collection was conducted using Citespace and VOS viewer in order to analyze the knowledge structure, hot topics, and trend directions in the field. The study found that China has the highest number of articles published between 2012-2021 and is also the world’s largest carbon emitter, suggesting that large amounts of carbon emissions drive low carbon technological innovation. Xiamen University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Tsinghua University are the most active institutions. In addition, cooperation between authors tends to be grouped and has been frequent in recent years. The co-occurring articles and keyword analyses identified three hotspots of low carbon technological innovation: ‘CO2 emission’, ‘policy’, and ‘energy’. In addition, keyword emergence analyses indicate that renewable energy, developing countries, and technology innovation themes are emerging trends. Low carbon technology innovation and renewable energy innovation in developing countries will be promoted.