Zusammenfassung:
Renewable electricity technology adoption is an essential part of the measures to mitigate climate change and promote sustainable development. This paper investigates the drivers of and barriers to renewable electricity technology adoption in Nigeria. Specifically, the factors that influence the share of renewable electricity in total electricity consumption in Nigeria is investigated using data from 1981 to 2011 and employing the Johansen cointegration technique and vector error correction method. The results show that there is a long run relationship between renewable electricity consumption and GDP, trade openness, financial development and share of fossil fuel in energy consumption. Trade openness promotes renewable electricity consumption while obsession with economic growth and the lobby of conventional energy sources undermine it in Nigeria. Financial development does not have significant impact on renewable electricity technology adoption in Nigeria. It is recommended that the Nigerian government should pursue policies that not only increase the amount of renewable electricity, but also increase the share of renewables in total electricity consumption.