Green growth means improving production and demand-based emissions through innovation of green technologies for cleaner production and supply chain. This study examines the effect of technological ...innovation on green growth on twenty-eight (28) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economies for the period 2000 to 2014 with data sourced from OECD library statistics and World Bank, World Development Indicators. The economies were sub-grouped into Oceania, America, Asia and Europe. Preliminary tests conducted were Cross-section dependence test, Im Pesaran and Shin unit root tests. Westerlund cointegration confirmed that the variables are cointegrated. Using STIRPAT and IPAT models, the study found transport related technologies has been beneficial to green growth in the Oceania sub-region. OECD Asia's technologies for production and processing of goods have been beneficial to green growth. Climate change technologies in relation to generation and transmission of energy are detrimental to green growth in the OECD economies but its impact is visible in Asia and Europe sub-panels. Environmental related budget and taxes have been found worthwhile in the pursuit of green growth from the dominant negative coefficient values. Findings led to the presentation of some important implications which could be useful for policy-makers and industries in the pursuit of green growth globally.
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Undoubtedly, the increasing rates of CO2 emissions contribute highly to climate change. Studies stress the importance of understanding the determinants of emissions, in order to implement appropriate ...policies. In the past, literature only looked at the effect of aggregate energy to emissions; while nowadays, with the increasing role of renewables, they aim at evaluating the impacts of renewable and non-renewable energies separately. Also, studies ignored possible cross-dependence among countries; concept particularly important for countries linked by trade or geographical position. Also, only lately, studies focused on developing economies.
In this study, we aim to address these gaps of the literature by estimating the determinants (renewable and non-renewable energy, income and trade openness) of CO2 emissions for the ten biggest electricity generators in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 1980 to 2011 by employing panel estimation techniques robust to cross dependence. A long-run relationship between the main variables is confirmed. Increases in non-renewable energy consumption intensify pollution while the opposite holds for renewable energy. With regards to direction of causal relationships, we observe a unidirectional causality running from emissions, income, trade and non-renewable energies towards renewable energies; from non-renewable energy to emissions; and from emissions and non-renewable energies to trade.
•We estimate the determinants of CO2 emissions.•Focus on the 10 biggest electricity generators in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1980 to 2011.•A long-run relationship between the main variables is confirmed.•Increases in NRE rise CO2; while increases in RE decrease CO2.•CO2, income, trade and NRE cause RE; NRE cause CO2; while CO2 and NRE cause trade.
In recent times, there has been increase in climate change protest across the globe. However, whether decrease in emissions is connected with climate change protest or not is yet to be documented in ...the literature. Consequently, the aim of this study is to fill this gap by examining ex-post detection of how climate change protests and its interconnectedness with CO2 emissions. Using the Bai and Perron (1998) structural break test, we estimate the number of breaks as well as the date of such structural breaks in CO2 emissions series for 41 countries. Our aim is to match the date of the climate change protests to those of the structural breaks. We observe that climate change protests are fairly consistent with the dates of breaks in Europe and Asia, but not in BRICS economies or US, Canada and other countries. Therefore, this method allows us to solve a gap in the energy industry related to the modelling and correct allocation of positive shocks in CO2 emissions to climate change protests.
•The number and the date of structural breaks in global CO2 emissions are presented.•Bai and Perron (1998) structural break test for 41 countries is used alongside the Lee-Strazicich Unit Root Tests for robustness checks.•We contribute to knowledge as regards ex-post detection of the role of climate change protests in global CO2 emissions.•Date of climate change protests is compared to those of these structural breaks.•Climate change protests are fairly in agreement with break dates and differ across regions.
This study examines the long-run drivers of potential and actual CO2 emissions in Ghana, a sub-Saharan Africa country. The use of the former helps address the reverse causality problem and capture ...the true long-run effects. The Stock-Watson dynamic OLS is used with data from 1970 to 2014. The result shows that potential CO2 emissions improve model efficiency. Income (except in "other sector") and financial development (except in manufacturing and construction sector) have compelling positive and negative effects on actual and potential CO2 emissions, respectively. A higher price (oil and electricity) reduces actual and potential CO2 emissions, but electricity price is more vital in residential, buildings and commercial and public services sector, while oil price is crucial in the transport sector. Democracy lowers actual and potential CO2 emissions in the aggregate (insignificant) and transport sectors but raises it in the manufacturing and construction sector. The effect is, however, inconsistent for the remaining sectors. Urbanization raises aggregate actual and potential CO2 emissions, but the effect is inconsistent for the transport sector. The findings have important implications for policy formulation.
•Compares the long-run drivers of actual and potential CO2 emissions.•Potential CO2 emissions improve model efficiency.•Income (except "other sector") has a compelling positive effect on both emissions.•Price and financial development (except manufacturing & construction) reduce both emissions.•Democracy significantly reduces both emissions only in the transport sector.
Economic development drives industrialization, which increased the value of the extracted natural resources. Excessive usage of natural resources, through agriculture, deforestation, and mining can ...affect the environment. In this regard, the present study investigates the effects of natural resources' abundance on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The study uses annual panel data spanning from 1990 to 2015 in BRICS countries. The augmented mean group (AMG) panel algorithm, robust to crosssectional dependence and heterogeneity, infers the heterogeneous effect of natural resources on CO2 emissions among BRICS countries. Abundance of natural resources mitigates CO2 emission in Russia, but contributes to pollution in South Africa. In addition to this, natural resources help to form Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in Brazil, China, Russia, and South Africa. Finally, causality analysis suggested feedback hypothesis between natural resources and CO2 emissions.
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•Natural resources, renewable energy, and CO2 emissions nexus are analyzed in BRICS countries.•The robust panel data estimator AMG is employed.•Heterogeneous effect of a natural resource on CO2 emissions observed•Neutrality hypothesis is found between natural resources and CO2 emissions.
•Economic complexity increases energy efficiency.•The substitution effects of renewable energy result in decreased CO2 emissions.•The scale effects of renewable energy result in increased CO2 ...emissions.•In higher complex economies, the scale effects dominate substitution.•In lower economic complexity, the substitution effect is more for wind and solar.
The economic complexity index's environmental implications have been thoroughly investigated in this study. In particular, an effort is made to determine the index's utility in explaining and filling in the gaps left by experimental studies on the effects of renewable energy on CO2 emissions. The study sampled 29 Asia-Pacific countries over the period 2000–2018. The relationship between the complexity index and CO2 emissions has been investigated using panel data models and estimation methods. According to the findings, increasing the intensity of energy use, trade openness, and urbanization all increase CO2 emissions, although the effects of urbanization eventually became insignificant in the long run. Furthermore, while the logarithm of GDP per capita’s coefficients for the level and squared forms confirmed the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, the economic complexity index shifted the curve. The results indicate that economic complexity in countries enhances economic growth effects to increase CO2 emissions through increased production scale and energy demand. On the other hand, increasing economic complexity through increased energy efficiency demonstrates its beneficial effects on the environment. According to the findings, increasing wind and solar energy share has reduced CO2 emissions in countries with lower economic complexity. In comparison, in more complex countries along with these substitution effects, there is also a scale effect associated with increasing renewable energy use, which eventually results in increased CO2 emissions.
•A reasonable classification process was proposed using the decision tree method.•Benchmark was developed to meet the national CO2 emissions reduction target by 2030.•The data mining and statistical ...methodologies were used in this study.•The CO2 emission allowance by cluster was estimated based on CO2 emission benchmark.•It can help policy-makers in determining the allocation of CO2 emission allowance.
To achieve the national CO2 emission reduction target (CERT) in the building sector established together with the launching of POST-2020, various countries are introducing the emission trading scheme (ETS), which is considered to have a considerable effect on CO2 emission reduction. Towards this end, it is important to establish a reasonable CO2 emission benchmark for the effective allocation of CO2 emission allowances. As the previous CO2 emission benchmark, however, was focused on the industry sector (e.g., power generation sector, manufacturing sector, etc.), it is difficult to apply to the building sector. To solve this problem, this study aimed to develop a CO2 emission benchmark for allocating CO2 emission allowances in multi-family housing complexes (MFHCs). This study was conducted in three steps: (i) establishment of the database; (ii) formation of clusters using a decision tree (DT); and (iii) development of the CO2 emission benchmark for MFHCs. The nine CO2 emission benchmarks (i.e., 0.03116-0.06667 tCO2/m2year) for MFHCs were developed using a DT based on the heating type and the elapsed years, and were validated using the Kruskal-Wallis test and t-test. It was shown that using the developed CO2 emission benchmark for MFHCs to calculate the national CO2 emission reduction in MFHCs satisfied the national CERT (18.1%). On the other hand, when the CO2 emission benchmarks for MFHCs calculated based on the South Korean ETS and the EU ETS, which were applied to the industry sector, were used, the national CO2 emission reduction was −5.29 and 45.55%, respectively. The proposed CO2 emission benchmark for MFHCs may be useful for policymaking for determining the allocation of CO2 emission allowances for achieving the national CERT.
The discussion about the environmental impact caused by aviation has gained greater prominence due to the increased demand for this sector and, consequently, the increase in the number of flights. ...Environmental concerns have stimulated the development of novel approaches to reduce pollutants and CO2 emissions. This study aims to assess the impact of disruptive concepts on commercial aircraft by reducing CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050. In this regard the fleet system dynamics model is used to assess the effects of technological progress on future air transport systems. It accounts for the manufacturer’s production capabilities and current projections and forecasts on the needs and evolution of global air transport, as well as their expected entry into service. The main factors reported were production capacity, year of entry of the technology/concept, and the transport capacity and range of aircraft. The sensitivity study on the production capacity of new aircraft/concepts showed that with a 15% increase, emissions can be reduced between 1 and 2.6%, depending on the case and scenario. On the other hand, increasing the aircraft production capacity could lead to a problem of overcapacity.
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•CO2 emissions are forecast up to 2050 for global aviation considering new technologies.•Disruptive aircraft designs are analyzed, and environmental impact is quantified.•Production capacity and year of entry into service are considered.•Sensitivity analysis shows that with a production capacity of increase 15%, emissions can be reduced 2.6%.•Electric propulsion’s ability in mitigating CO2 emissions is limited to regional flights.
This study analyses the role of green growth in promoting a sustainable environment. In literature, the empirical and theoretical examination on the role of green growth in carbon dioxide (CO2) ...emissions is missing, especially in combination with other factors, i.e., human capital index, environment-related taxes and development of environment-related technologies. This study investigates the role of environmentally adjusted multifactor productivity growth (i.e. green growth) on CO2 emissions for G7 countries from 1991 to 2017. The study utilizes second generation panel data method(s), i.e. Cross-Sectionally Augmented Auto-regressive Distributive lag (CS-ARDL) model. The outcomes of theoretical and empirical findings indicate that both linear and non-linear term for green growth reduces CO2 emissions. Also, environmental tax, human capital and renewable energy use are found to decrease CO2 emissions. The impact of GDP growth both in short-run and long-run is environment depletion. However, our result supports the theoretical notion that green growth sustains environment quality. We obtained consistent results from panel causality test. Our results may further strengthen the belief of policymakers in developed countries on the promotion of green growth.
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•We analyzed the effect of green growth and environmental tax on CO2 emissions.•We applied advanced panel data techniques.•Linear and non-linear term of green growth reduce CO2 emissions.•Environmental tax, renewable energy and human capital improve the environment.
•We calculated CO2 emission inventory in 29 cities from 2000 to 2015.•Economic-emission decoupling were analyzed at the city level.•Decoupling characteristics for typical cities were discussed.•The ...research provided the reference for kinds of cities’ low-carbon development.
Recently, the economy has grown rapidly in China’s Central Plains urban agglomeration, with high energy consumption and a huge pressure on reducing CO2 emissions. Thus, low-carbon development is an important measure to solve economic, energy and environmental problems. To analyse low-emission development, this paper clarifies the evolutionary characteristics of CO2 emissions and the decoupling relationship between GDP and CO2 emissions based on the latest available data from 2000 to 2015. The results indicate that CO2 emissions of Pingdingshan and Changzhi are higher in the same year. The ratios from coal consumption accounting for the total CO2 emissions are clearly bigger than from other energy types and industrial processes. Changzhi, Luoyang and Pingdingshan have reached their peaks. Five cities have experienced strong decoupling after 2010, 13 cities present weak decoupling, 4 cities present growth connection, and 7 cities show growth negative decoupling. It can be concluded that a relatively smaller proportion of industry and strict policy implementations of coal reduction are the main factors in inhibiting the decoupling. So the proportion of coal purification should be increased firstly. Then, the energy consumption structure should be changed from the traditional coal consumption structure to coal, oil and gas. Lastly, economic means can be used to control CO2 emissions.
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