Пространственная организация патентной активности в атомной и ветровой энергетике в зарубежной Европе: концентрация и типы знания

Региональные исследования. 2024. № 3(85). С. 78–91.

Evgeny V.

In innovation research, geographical proximity between actors plays a special role in identifying knowledge types. It is the types of knowledge that determine the spatial pattern of innovation activity, in particular, the degree and nature of its concentration. The prevailing type of knowledge in the innovation process depends on the stage of development of the industry and the knowledge pool of the industry itself. Nuclear and wind energy, on the one hand, are at different stages of the innovation cycle, on the other hand, have different knowledge pools ‘in themselves’. This allows us to identify the spatial characteristics of the innovation process depending on the type of knowledge. European countries have technological leadership in the sectors, with nuclear and wind power being the most widespread carbon-free energy sources. Patent activity in both sectors in European countries tends to be concentrated, but its nature is different: in nuclear power five clusters have formed near large agglomerations and research institutes, while in wind power only one Danish-North German cluster in a medium-urbanized region with access to tacit practical knowledge has been finally formed. Knowledge spillovers in the nuclear power sector in the form of patent citations tend to be more concentrated due to the clusters, but in the case of joint patents the difference in distances between sectors is smaller. This indicates a high role of tacit forms of knowledge in wind energy, despite the weaker clustering of innovation activity. The distances between joint patent creators increase with the formalization of knowledge pools in both industries, and in nuclear power, as a declining industry, with the degradation of spatial links between innovators.

Keywords: атомная энергетика, ветроэнергетика, tacit knowledge, неявное знание, wind energy, geography of innovation, nuclear power, география инноваций