A Study on the Characteristics of Academic Topics Related to Renewable Energy Using the Structural Topic Modeling and the Weak Signal Concept

Chankook Park and Minkyu Kim
Additional contact information
Chankook Park: Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), 405-11, Jongga-ro, Jung-gu, Ulsan 44543, Korea
Minkyu Kim: Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI), 405-11, Jongga-ro, Jung-gu, Ulsan 44543, Korea

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-24

Abstract: It is important to examine in detail how the distribution of academic research topics related to renewable energy is structured and which topics are likely to receive new attention in the future in order for scientists to contribute to the development of renewable energy. This study uses an advanced probabilistic topic modeling to statistically examine the temporal changes of renewable energy topics by using academic abstracts from 2010–2019 and explores the properties of the topics from the perspective of future signs such as weak signals. As a result, in strong signals, methods for optimally integrating renewable energy into the power grid are paid great attention. In weak signals, interest in large-capacity energy storage systems such as hydrogen, supercapacitors, and compressed air energy storage showed a high rate of increase. In not-strong-but-well-known signals, comprehensive topics have been included, such as renewable energy potential, barriers, and policies. The approach of this study is applicable not only to renewable energy but also to other subjects.

Keywords: renewable energy; structural topic modeling; weak signal; future sign (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/5/1497/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/5/1497/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:5:p:1497-:d:513425

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().