Based on patent counts and patent values, this study presents quantitative and qualitative measurements of the comparative technological advantages between renewable and fossil-fuel fields of energy production across China, the U.S., Japan and European countries. The results show that the field of renewable energy exhibits greater technological potential and is progressing at a faster pace than is that of fossil fuel energy. China is following most other countries by increasing investments in developing renewable energy technology, contributing to a global increase of the technological advantages of renewable energy relative to those of fossil-fuel energy. Although China is technologically disadvantaged in the fields of energy production, particularly in the qualitative aspect reflected by patent values, the technological gap between China and developed areas is shrinking. Compared with a regular mobilization of the technological advantages between different areas in the field of fossil-fuel energy, a drastic change of the technological advantage in the international dimension indicates intense competition in renewable energy technology. The results of this study provide a new reference for predicting not only the market potential of energy technology but also, the global energy technology patterns in the near future. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.