•Examine the link between green technological innovation, institutional quality and CO2 emissions.•Green technological innovation mitigates CO2 emissions.•CO2 emissions are significantly increased by ...institutional quality.•Economic growth has a positive effect on CO2 emissions.•Fossil fuel energy consumption significantly increases CO2 emissions.
Green technological innovation and institutional quality are identified as effective mechanisms to mitigate carbon emissions and promote sustainable development. However, few studies have analyzed the role of technological innovation and institutions in reducing emissions from the African perspective. Therefore, this study examines the long-run effect of green technological innovation, institutional quality, renewable energy, fossil fuel energy, and economic growth on CO2 emissions in 25 African countries from 2000 to 2018. With the potential occurrence of residual cross-sectional reliance and heterogeneity, the study used second-generation panel techniques to examine the relationship between the variables. The empirical findings from the augmented mean group (AMG) and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimators indicate that green technological innovation and renewable energy consumption have a negative significant impact on CO2 emissions. In contrast, institutional quality, economic growth, and fossil fuel energy consumption have a positive impact on CO2 emissions. Based on the revealed findings, we proposed that African countries should increase investment in green technological innovation and renewable energy projects to achieve sustainable development targets.
•A modified dynamic recursive CGE model is constructed.•Renewable energy growth is considerable only if ETS revenue is used.•Broader renewable energy subsidies are better than ones with narrow ...scope.•A small part of ETS revenue should be used to subsidize residents for social stability.
Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and renewable energy generation are emission reduction methods in most countries in the world. However, few studies have focused on the impact of ETS on renewable energy. The question is, can carbon trading promote renewable energy generation? This paper first analyzes different distribution strategies of ETS revenue by applying dynamic recursive computable general equilibrium model with multi-sectors. Practical scenarios and better options of distribution of ETS revenue by a comprehensive evaluation based on entropy weight method are proposed. The results show that ETS with no subsidy to renewable will reduce the demand for energy, increase the cost of renewable energy sources and decrease the generation. ETS will be the spring of renewable energy generation when most of the revenue is used for all kinds of renewable energy sources, instead of some of them. The growth of renewable energy generation is also substantial. It is necessary that a small portion of ETS revenue should be used to subsidize residents to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. If this income is used for government investment and consumption, it will also help to mitigate economic losses, which is caused by the direction of investment by the Chinese government.
The present study aims to explore the long‐run and causal effect of financial development and renewable energy consumption on environmental sustainability while controlling technological innovation ...and economic growth within the global framework. In line with the aim of the study, the fully modified OLS (FMOLS), dynamic OLS (DOLS), canonical cointegrating regression (CCR), Bayer and Hanck cointegration, and frequency‐domain causality tests are employed. Empirical evidence confirms the existence of a long‐run linkage among the variables. The present study also finds that in the long run, global financial development and global renewable energy consumption have a long‐run significant positive effect on environmental sustainability, while economic growth increases carbon emission flaring around the world. Within the global framework, the study, therefore, recommends that in order to increase environmental quality, global policy‐makers should further consider the roles of renewable energy and financial development by implementing reform energy policies in both developed and developing countries.
The European Union (EU) has set ambitious goals for climate change and energy in its pursued policies (20% of renewable energy until 2020, 27% until 2030, and the aim to become the global leader in ...energy produced by renewable energy sources). Even more ambitious goals are established in the strategy of Energy 2050. Today European energy policy is oriented towards energy security, expansion of energy markets, energy efficiency, decarbonisation, and scientific research and innovations. The broader aim of this policy is a radical shift away from the current energy system to introduce a new system which would ensure environmental consistency, affordability of consumer prices, and security of supply. The paper analyses the trends of energy development across the eight Baltic Sea Region (BSR) countries. The analysis covers the period of 2008–2015. The main aim of the paper is to compare BSR countries achievements in sustainable energy development. The aggregate measures of energy sustainability are devised utilising multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) MULTIMOORA (Multi-Objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis) technique. The paper presents an original framework for sustainable energy development indicators. The EU energy policy priorities govern the choice of indicators of energy sustainability. The comparative assessment of BSR countries, based on neutrosophic MULTIMOORA technique, by applying indicators from the framework, indicated that the best-performing countries regarding the achievement of EU sustainable energy development goals during the research period were Denmark and Latvia. The findings of this research can give useful information to energy policy decision makers.
•The paper analyses the energy development trends and policies in Baltic Sea Region.•The analysis covers the period of 2008–2015.•The EU energy policy priorities govern the choice of indicators of energy sustainability.•The aggregate measures of energy sustainability are devised.•Advanced MCDA techniques applied for ranking countries.
Migration is a critical behavioral strategy necessary for population persistence and ecosystem functioning, but migration routes have been increasingly disrupted by anthropogenic activities, ...including energy development. Wind energy is the world's fastest growing source of electricity and represents an important alternative to hydrocarbon extraction, but its effects on migratory species beyond birds and bats are not well understood. We evaluated the effects of wind‐energy development on pronghorn migration, including behavior and habitat selection, to assess potential effects on connectivity and other functional benefits including stopovers. We monitored GPS‐collared female pronghorn from 2010 to 2012 and 2018 to 2020 in south‐central Wyoming, USA, an area with multiple wind‐energy facilities in various stages of development and operation. Across all time periods, we collected 286 migration sequences from 117 individuals, including 121 spring migrations, 123 fall migrations, and 42 facultative winter migrations. While individuals continued to migrate through wind‐energy facilities, pronghorn made important behavioral adjustments relative to turbines during migration. These included avoiding turbines when selecting stopover sites in spring and winter, selecting areas farther from turbines at a small scale in spring and winter, moving more quickly near turbines in spring (although pronghorn moved more slowly near turbines in the fall), and reducing fidelity to migration routes relative to wind turbines under construction in both spring and fall. For example, an increase in distance to turbine from 0 to 1 km translated to a 33% and 300% increase in the relative probability of selection for stopover sites in spring and winter, respectively. The behavioral adjustments pronghorn made relative to wind turbines could reduce the functional benefits of their migration, such as foraging success or the availability of specific routes, over the long term.
Wind energy is the world's fastest growing source of electricity and represents an important alternative to hydrocarbon extraction, but its effects on migratory species beyond birds and bats are not well understood. We found that while connectivity was not lost and pronghorn continued to migrate through wind‐energy facilities, pronghorn made important behavioral adjustments relative to turbines during migration. These included avoiding turbines when selecting stopover sites, selecting areas farther from turbines at a small scale, moving more quickly near turbines in the spring, and reducing fidelity to migration routes relative to wind turbines under construction.
Comprehensive assessment of energy systems and the roadmap for a sustainable energy transition are becoming more and more important themes in academic research to mitigate climate risk. This study ...establishes an evaluation system for the level of energy trilemma (ET) at the provincial level in China and analyzes the impact and mechanism of renewable energy development on ET. The results show that (1) the national ET index shows an upward trend, and the energy system has been continuously optimized, albeit with spatial disparities across provinces. (2) Renewable energy development positively impacts ET, and the positive impacts of hydropower generation are significant. (3) The results of the mechanism analysis indicate that renewable energy development can indirectly promote sustainable energy transition by improving technological innovation and green productivity. (4) Under inter-provincial electricity transfer, the impact of renewable energy on optimizing the ET in net electricity exporting regions is less significant compared to that in net electricity importing regions. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the synergistic development of energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability, especially by supporting net electricity exporting regions, to promote a more balanced and sustainable development of the energy system.
•Defining China's energy sustainable transition index based on the energy trilemma.•Renewable energy development can promote sustainable energy transition.•Technological innovation and green productivity play a mediating role.•Relatively slow transition process in net electricity exporting regions.
Although switching from non-renewable to renewable energy is believed to stimulate low-carbon economic growth, the means to establishing this energy transition have largely remained unexplored in the ...extant literature. Against this backdrop, this study focuses on evaluating how scaling public investment in renewable energy-related research and development projects impacts the carbon productivity levels in the top-10 renewable energy-investing countries. The estimation strategy comprised econometric methods that can handle cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity related concerns in the data. Regarding the key findings, higher public research and development-related investments in renewable energy are observed to boost carbon productivity levels in the concerned countries, while natural resource consumption and net exports are found to reduce carbon productivity. Besides, the results endorsed that public research and development investment for renewable energy development exhibits a moderating role by jointly boosting carbon productivity with higher natural resource consumption and net exports. Moreover, it is also seen to inflict a mediating effect by jointly boosting carbon productivity with urbanization. In line with these findings, the concerned governments are recommended to scale such investment in order to stimulate technological innovation so that renewable energy transition can take place to establish low carbon economic growth.
•Determinants of carbon productivity are evaluated•Public R&D investment in renewable energy development boost carbon productivity•Natural resource consumption and net exports reduce carbon productivity•Urbanization does not directly affect carbon productivity•Public R&D investment moderates and mediates to boost carbon productivity
Photosynthesis is the natural process that converts solar photons into energy-rich products that are needed to drive the biochemistry of life. Two ultrafast processes form the basis of ...photosynthesis: excitation energy transfer and charge separation. Under optimal conditions, every photon that is absorbed is used by the photosynthetic organism. Fundamental quantum mechanics phenomena, including delocalization, underlie the speed, efficiency and directionality of the charge-separation process. At least four design principles are active in natural photosynthesis, and these can be applied practically to stimulate the development of bio-inspired, human-made energy conversion systems.
•Impact of innovation on energy efficiency is analyzed.•Shadow economy moderates innovation-energy efficiency relation.•Study is done for 19 MENA countries over 1990–2016.•Second generation panel ...modeling approach is used.•Multipronged SDG framework is designed.
Despite the ongoing research on energy efficiency and innovation in the context of Industry 4.0, little is known on how degree of leakages in economy can impact the energy efficiency-innovation association. This issue has been addressed by the United Nations in their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) report also. In the era of Industry 4.0, this issue can be crucial from the perspective of sustainable development, and we are analyzing this issue in case of Middle East and North African (MENA) countries over a period of 1990–2016. The second-generation methodological approaches have been adopted. Our results show that technological innovation has a positive impact on energy efficiency, whereas growth in shadow economy has a detrimental impact on energy efficiency. The structural transformation of economy has positive impact on energy efficiency. Based on our results, we have designed an SDG framework, which might help the MENA countries to achieve the objectives of SDG 7, SDG 8, SDG 9, and SDG 4.
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Internet technology has broken the boundaries of traditional geographical space, greatly shortened the space-time distance between regions, and maximized the integration of various resources. ...Therefore, in the era of the digital economy, the rapid development of network information technology, the energy internet and other new forms of the network economy may affect energy consumption. This paper mainly studies how internet development affects China's energy consumption and the associated transmission mechanism. Specifically, this paper constructs an evaluation system of China's internet development level from four perspectives: internet popularity, internet infrastructure, internet information resources and internet application. On this basis, the relationship between internet development and China's energy consumption is investigated and found to be significantly positive; moreover, internet development promotes the energy consumption scale through economic growth. The relationship between internet development and the energy consumption structure is significantly negative, and internet development affects the energy consumption structure through economic growth, R&D investment, human capital, financial development, and the industrial structure. Interestingly, there is also empirical evidence that the nexus of internet development and energy consumption intensity is significantly negative, and internet development helps to accelerate the decline in energy consumption intensity through economic growth, R&D investment, human capital, financial development, and industrial structural upgrading.
•The influence of internet development on energy consumption in China is investigated.•The entropy method is used to evaluate the level of internet development.•Internet development promotes an increase in the energy consumption scale through economic growth.•The relationship between internet development and the energy consumption structure is significantly negative.•Internet development promotes a decline in energy consumption intensity.
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