DEMETRA

Disentangling the EnvironMental and Energy efficiency impact of public innovation investment for a green TRAnsition

Welcome to the DEMETRA Project

Welcome to the official website of DEMETRA, an academic research project dedicated to analyzing how public policy and state-directed innovation can successfully drive the transition to a sustainable, carbon-neutral economy.

Funded by the European Union under the NextGenerationEU initiative and supported by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP/PRIN 2022 PNRR), DEMETRA brings together leading researchers to address the dual challenges of ecological transition and economic stability.

The project is jointly carried out by two operational units:

• The University of Salerno (Lead Institution), coordinated by the Project's Principal Investigator, Prof. Stefano Di Bucchianico.

• The University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, coordinated by the Co-Principal Investigator, Prof. Matteo Deleidi.

Our Mission

Addressing the dramatic challenges of climate change requires transformative, systemic change. While the European Green Deal and national recovery plans aim to build highly resilient, zero-carbon societies, the path to a green transition is complex and fraught with macroeconomic challenges.

DEMETRA was established to investigate the real-world efficacy of environmental state policies. Our research focuses on two core pillars:

• Empirical Assessment of Public R&D: We provide robust empirical analyses evaluating how targeted government investments, public R&D, and mission-oriented innovation spending impact green technologies, energy efficiency, and macroeconomic growth.

• Innovative Macroeconomic Modeling (The TRIODE Model): Using advanced Stock-Flow Consistent Input-Output (SFC-IO) methods, we develop simulation models to forecast policy scenarios. This framework helps policymakers design optimal policy mixes that mitigate unwanted economic side effects—such as the "rebound effect" (where efficiency gains inadvertently trigger higher consumption) and the decline of Energy Return on Investment (EROI).

Key Insights & Policy Outlook

Our final findings emphasize that while public R&D investment is a fundamental catalyst for steering private markets toward sustainability, purely technological solutions are not enough. To prevent the rebound effect and ensure that efficiency gains lead to absolute emission reductions, green innovation must be paired with comprehensive fiscal, regulatory, and industrial policies.

Furthermore, our modeling shows that a deep transition—shifting capital away from fossil fuels and toward renewable infrastructure—is fully compatible with economic stability and growth, provided that proactive labor market and distributional policies are implemented to support communities through the shift.

Our Core Principles

Throughout its lifespan, DEMETRA has been strictly committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and social responsibility:

• Do No Significant Harm (DNSH): Every research activity was conducted in complete compliance with environmental preservation guidelines.

• Open Access: In alignment with open science, all our working papers and publications are freely accessible to researchers, policymakers, and the public.

• Equal Opportunity & Diversity: Our research units actively promoted generational inclusion and maintained strict gender equality within our research teams.

Explore the Project

We invite you to browse our dedicated sections to learn more about our work:

• Components: Meet our academic team, post-doc researchers, and collaborating units.

• Publications: Read our published papers and discussion drafts in top international scientific journals.

• Workshops: Discover the events and dissemination activities organized by the project, including our major workshop series.