The existing literature on environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is mainly focused on finding out the optimal sustainable path for any economy. Looking at the present renewable energy generation scenario ...in India, this study has made an attempt to estimate the EKC for CO2 emission in India for the period of 1971–2015. Using unit root test with multiple structural breaks and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration, this study has found the evidence of inverted U-shaped EKC for India, with the turnaround point at USD 2937.77. The renewable energy has found to have significant negative impact on CO2 emissions, whereas for overall energy consumption, the long run elasticity is found to be higher than short run elasticity. Moreover, trade is negatively linked with carbon emissions. Based on the results, this study concludes with suitable policy prescriptions.
•We have estimated EKC for CO2 emissions in India for 1971–2015.•Renewable energy is included in the linear and quadratic EKC framework.•Unit root test with multiple structural breaks and ARDL bounds test have been used.•Non-rejection of EKC hypothesis emphasized the impact of renewable energy.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey of the empirical literature on environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) estimation of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the period of 1991–2017.
...Design/methodology/approach
This survey categorizes the studies on the basis of power of income in empirical models of EKC. It has been hypothesized that the EKC shows an inverted U-shaped association between economic growth and CO2 emissions.
Findings
For all the contexts, the results of EKC estimation for CO2 emissions are inconclusive in nature. The reasons behind this discrepancy can be attributed to the choice of contexts, time period, explanatory variables, and methodological adaptation.
Research limitations/implications
The future studies in this context should not only consider new set of variables (e.g. corruption index, social indicators, political scenario, energy research and development expenditures, foreign capital inflows, happiness, population education structure, public investment toward alternate energy exploration, etc.), but also the data set should be refined, so that the EKC estimation issues raised by Stern (2004) can be addressed.
Originality/value
By far, no study in the literature of ecological economics has focused on the empirical estimation of EKC for CO2 emissions. This particular context has been used for this study, as CO2 is one of the highest studied pollutants in the ecological economics, and especially within the EKC hypothesis framework.
The paper is an effort to fill the gap in the energy literature with a comprehensive country study of Pakistan. We investigate the relationship between CO2 emissions, energy consumption, economic ...growth and trade openness in Pakistan over the period of 1971–2009. Bounds test for cointegration and Granger causality approach are employed for the empirical analysis. The result suggests that there exists a long-run relationship among the variables and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is supported. The significant existence of EKC shows the country's effort to condense CO2 emissions and indicates certain achievement of controlling environmental degradation in Pakistan. Furthermore, we find a one-way causal relationship running from economic growth to CO2 emissions. Energy consumption increases CO2 emissions both in the short and long runs. Trade openness reduces CO2 emissions in the long run but it is insignificant in the short run. In addition, the change of CO2 emissions from short run to the long span of time is corrected by about 10% yearly.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Considering the potential relationship between the digital economy and energy transition, we investigate the effect of the digital economy on the structure of renewable energy consumption and ...generation by employing panel data of 72 countries covering the period 2003–2019. We also investigate the mediating effect of government governance, asymmetry, and heterogeneity between the digital economy and energy transition, and draw several results. First, the digital economy positively affects energy transition; in other words, a 1% increase in the digital economy will boost the renewable energy consumption structure by 0.021% and renewable energy generation structure by 0.106%. Moreover, the digital economy stimulates the renewable energy transition by promoting governments’ governance capabilities. In addition, according to the asymmetric check, the positive effect of the digital economy on energy transition is stronger at higher quantiles. Finally, heterogeneity results indicate that the digital economy positively contributes to renewable energy transition in the high-income countries, and there are regional heterogeneities in the impact of the digital economy on energy transition. These research findings offer valuable policy implications for governments and scholars.
•This paper explores the effects of the digital economy on energy transition.•We further discuss the mediating mechanism, asymmetry, and heterogeneity.•The digital economy positively affects the transition of renewable energy consumption and generation.•Government governance has a positive impact on the relationship between the digital economy and energy transition.•The impact of the digital economy on energy transition is asymmetric and heterogeneous.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This study investigates the association between globalization and carbon emissions for Next-11 (N-11) countries. In doing so, we apply bounds testing approach to examine cointegration between ...globalization and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The results confirm the U-shaped association between globalization and carbon emissions for Bangladesh, Iran and South Korea. Contrarily, traditional approach validates an inverted U relationship between globalization and carbon emissions for Pakistan and South Korea, but U-shaped relationship exists for the Philippines and Vietnam. The presence or absence of an inverted U relationship between globalization and carbon emissions has important policy implications using globalization as an economic tool for sustainable economic development.
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NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This study examines the association between foreign direct investment (FDI) and carbon emissions for the Middle East and North African (MENA) region in 1990–2015, including biomass energy consumption ...as an additional determinant of carbon emissions. We apply the generalized method of moments (GMM) to validate the existence of the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH). The N-shaped association is also validated between FDI and carbon emissions. The link between economic growth and carbon emissions is inverted-U and N-shaped; that is, it satisfies the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypotheses. Biomass energy use lowers carbon emissions, and the causality analysis reveals that FDI causes CO2 emissions. Clearly, the results confirm the existence of a feedback effect between economic growth and carbon emissions. The connection between biomass energy use and CO2 emissions is also bidirectional. The empirical findings suggest policy makers to design comprehensive trade and energy policies by targeting the cleaner production practices, for not only to ensure environmental sustainability, but also to fulfil the objectives of sustainable development goals.
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•We examine the association between FDI and carbon emissions.•Study has been done for the Middle East and North African countries in 1990–2015.•Biomass energy consumption is considered as a determinant of carbon emissions.•We validate the existence of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis.•N-shaped association is validated between FDI and carbon emissions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This study disaggregates energy, i.e. non-renewable and renewable energy consumption, and investigates its effect on economic growth. The period of 1990–2015 is used to examine Asia-Pacific Economic ...Cooperation (APEC) countries. This paper determines the cross-sectional dependence and employs a second-generation panel unit root test for precise estimation. Westerlund cointegration test is used to examine the long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables and confirm the presence of cointegration in the long run. The Continuously Updated Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (CUP-FM) approaches are applied to investigate long-term output elasticities between the variables. The results show the stimulating role of energy (renewable and nonrenewable) consumption in economic growth. Research and development expenditures and trade openness have a positive effect on economic growth. Moreover, the time series individual country analysis also confirms that renewable energy has a positive impact on economic growth. The heterogenous causality analysis reveals the feedback effect, i.e., bidirectional causal associations among economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and nonrenewable energy consumption. This empirical evidence suggests that countries should increase investment in renewable energy sectors and plan for development in renewable energy for sustainable energy growth.
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•We analyze the growth-energy-capital-trade-R&D expenditures association.•Study is done for 16 in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries during the period of 1990–2015.•Long-run output elasticities are estimated for panel and individual countries.•Energy consumption in any form increases economic growth.•Research and Development expenditure increases economic growth.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This study explores the relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions in the so-called European Union 5 (EU-5) countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom) for the ...1985–2016 period. In doing so, we employ a carbon emission function to investigate the environmental Kuznets curve phenomenon, which describes a relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. The empirical results confirm the existence of an N-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions in the EU-5 countries. We incorporate additional variables such as renewable electricity consumption, trade openness, natural resource abundance, and energy innovation to augment the carbon emission function. Renewable electricity consumption, natural resources, and energy innovation improve environmental quality, while trade openness and the interaction between economic growth and renewable electricity consumption exert a positive impact on CO2 emissions. This study is novel in that it presents an interaction between economic growth and renewable electricity consumption. We also confirm the need for renewable energy regulations related to increasing renewable sources and promoting energy innovation to reduce the negative effects of energy and fossil energy resources on environmental degradation.
•The N-shaped EKC relationship exists between economic growth and CO2 emissions.•Renewable electricity consumption exerts negative effect on carbon emissions.•Natural resource availability improves environmental quality.•Economic growth/renewable electricity consumption relation increases CO2 emissions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Global warming is now the most serious environmental challenge. In the most recent Paris accord, authorities opted to reduce global emissions to a certain level and voiced significant concern for ...China, the world's largest CO2 emitter, accounting for around 29.4% of total emissions. In contrast, coal accounts 65% of the majority of China's energy mix in 2019. Therefore, it is critical to analyze the environmental factors influencing China's CO2 emissions. Hence, the research examines fossil fuel energy, renewable energy, and GDP between 1980 to 2018 using novel dynamic ARDL simulations and Frequency Domain Causality (FDC) models. The empirical findings show that fossil fuel energy intensely boosts CO2 emissions long and short term. On the other hand, GDP increases carbon emissions in the long term but has a significant adverse effect on China's environment in the short run. While renewable energy usage has a short-term detrimental impact on CO2 emissions. The FDC also supports the long-, medium-and short-term causality hypotheses. Overall, our results imply that renewable energy consumption is crucial for achieving sustainable environmental goals and discourages fossil fuel use in the energy mix. We recommend that China consider empirical evidence and initiate long-term strategies to diminish carbon emissions for a sustainable environment.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
This paper analyzes the causal relationship between renewable energy consumption, oil prices, and economic activity in the United States from July 1989 to July 2016, considering all quantiles of the ...distribution. Although the concept of Granger-causality is defined for the conditional distribution, the majority of papers have tested Granger-causality using conditional mean regression models in which the causal relations are linear. We apply a Granger-causality in quantiles analysis that evaluates causal relations in each quantile of the distribution. Under this approach, we can discriminate between causality affecting the median and the tails of the conditional distribution. We find evidence of bi-directional causality between changes in renewable energy consumption and economic growth at the lowest tail of the distribution; besides, changes in renewable energy consumption lead economic growth at the highest tail of the distribution. Our results also support unidirectional causality from fluctuations in oil prices to economic growth at the extreme quantiles of the distribution. Finally, we find evidence of lower-tail dependence from changes in oil prices to changes in renewable energy consumption. Our findings call for government policies aimed at developing renewable energy markets, to increase energy efficiency in the U.S.
•We study the causality between renewable energy, oil prices, and growth in the U.S.•We test for Granger-causality for each quantile of the distribution.•There is causality between renewable energy and economic growth at extreme tails.•Fluctuations in oil prices lead economic growth at the extreme quantiles.•Our results call for policies to develop renewable energy markets in the U.S.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP