Does renewable energy technological innovation control China's air pollution? A spatial analysis

China's rapid industrialization has led to severe air pollution, which has attracted considerable attention from academia and media. To achieve cleaner production, the Chinese government has incorporated the construction of ecological civilization into the overall layout of the 'Five in One' and proposed that environmental protection and economic development should be placed on an equal footing. Based on the panel dataset covering 31 Chinese provinces during 2011-2017, this study investigates the spatial features of air pollution and the relationship between energy technology innovation (RETI) and air pollution through Moran's I index and spatial panel econometric models. The results indicate that, first, the air quality in northern China is generally worse than in southern China, especially in Shanxi, Shandong, Hebei, and Henan. Second, technological innovations in renewable energy are beneficial to alleviate nitrogen oxides (NOx) and respirable suspended particles (PM10) concentrations, while they are not significantly associated with sulfur dioxide (SO2). Third, the spatial econometric model shows that the spatial spillover effects of SO2, NOx, and PM10 are 0.626, 0.585, and 0.177, respectively. It is suggested that regional and district policymakers need to consider spatial locations when improving air quality. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.