Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/266649 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
ZEW Discussion Papers No. 22-059
Publisher: 
ZEW - Leibniz-Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung, Mannheim
Abstract: 
The ongoing digital transformation has raised hopes for ICT-based climate protection within manufacturing industries, such as dematerialized products and energy efficiency gains. However, ICT also consume energy as well as resources, and detrimental effects on the environment are increasingly gaining attention. Accordingly, it is unclear whether trade-offs or synergies between the use of digital technologies and energy savings exist. Our analysis sheds light on the most important drivers of the relationship between ICT and energy use in manufacturing. We apply flexible tree-based machine learning to a German administrative panel data set including more than 25,000 firms. The results indicate firm-level heterogeneity, but suggest that digital technologies relate more frequently to an increase in energy use. Multiple characteristics, such as energy prices and firms' energy mix, explain differences in the effect.
Subjects: 
digital technologies
energy use
manufacturing
machine learning
JEL: 
C14
D22
L60
O33
Q40
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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