Can renewable energy technology innovation promote mineral resources’ green utilization efficiency? Novel insights from regional development inequality

Strengthening the mineral resource's green utilization efficiency is the key to achieving high-quality development and sustainable mining in China. Moreover, exploring the impact of renewable energy technology innovation (RETI) on mineral resources' green utilization efficiency is integral to boosting the mining industry's overall efficiency and facilitating the energy transition. However, the ability and way of different regions to develop and utilize RETI may depend on their geographical location. Using the dataset covering 30 provinces from 2001 to 2020, this study empirically reveals novel evidence of regional inequality of the impact of RETI on mineral resources' green utilization efficiency. Results show that RETI significantly affects mineral resources' green utilization efficiency. Study results still hold after replacing the explanatory variables, using the instrumental variables technique to solve the endogeneity problem, removing extreme values, and excluding the effects of extreme events. In addition, the impact of RETI on mineral resources' green utilization efficiency depends on the regional location in terms of both significance and marginal effects. RETI significantly promotes mineral resources' green utilization efficiency in the central and western regions, while the opposite is true for eastern regions. Finally, the impact of RETI on mineral resources' green utilization efficiency has various effects depending on the industrial structure and human capital level changes. These findings can provide partial enlightenment for accelerating RETI to facilitate mineral resources' green utilization efficiency.