Globalization, industrialization, and urbanization in Belt and Road Initiative countries: implications for environmental sustainability and energy demand

A Numerical Simulation Study of the Impact of Kesterites Hole Transport Materials in Quantum Dot-Sensitized Solar Cells Using SCAPS-1D

Energy generation and storage are critical challenges for developing economies due to rising populations and limited access to clean energy resources. Fossil fuels, commonly used for energy production, are costly and contribute to environmental pollution through greenhouse gas emissions. Quantum dot-sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs) offer a promising alternative due to their stability, low cost, and high-power conversion efficiency (PCE) compared to other third-generation solar cells. Kesterite materials, known for their excellent optoelectronic properties and chemical stability, have gained attention for their potential as hole transport layer (HTL) materials in solar cells. In this study, the SCAPS-1D numerical simulator was used to analyze a solar cell with the configuration FTO/TiO2/MoS2/HTL/Ag. The electron transport layer (ETL) used was titanium dioxide (TiO2), while Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS), Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTSe), Cu2NiSnS4 (CNTS), and Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSSe) kesterite materials were evaluated as HTLs. MoS2 quantum dot served as the absorber, with FTO as the anode and silver as the back metal contact. The CFTS material outperformed the others, yielding a PCE of 25.86%, a fill factor (FF) of 38.79%, a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 34.52 mA cm-2, and an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.93 V. This study contributes to the advancement of high-performance QDSSCs.

Performance evaluation of a brewery wastewater treatment plant: A case of Heineken Brewery, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Untreated wastewater from the brewing industry poses significant environmental risks due to its high organic content. Therefore, this study evaluates the wastewater treatment system at Heineken Brewery in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Key parameters analyzed include COD, BOD₅, TSS, pH, ammonia (NH₃), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), electrical conductivity (EC), temperature, turbidity, and volatile fatty acids (VFA). These parameters were analyzed following the procedures of the American Public Health Association's standard. The treatment system demonstrated notable efficiency, with influent temperature decreasing from 29.37 °C to 25.35 °C, remaining well below the acceptable limit of 40 °C. The pH dropped from a mean of 9.3 to 7.5, aligning with the acceptable range of 6-9. COD and BOD₅ were significantly reduced by 97.2 %, achieving levels well below discharge limits of 250 mg/L and 60 mg/L, respectively. TSS levels decreased by 95.7 %, with a mean of 32.3 mg/L. However, TP and TN removal efficiencies were lower at 49.4 % and 57.6 %, respectively, with TP slightly exceeding the limit of 5 mg/L. The system effectively reduced VFA by 94.3 % and turbidity by 71.5 %. While parameters such as pH, temperature, TN, NH₄-N, and EC were within acceptable limits, the high nutrient concentrations in the final effluent indicate potential environmental contamination if discharged untreated. Overall, while the treatment plant shows commendable pollutant removal efficiency, further optimization is needed for improved nutrient management.

Do circular economy, renewable energy, industrialization, and globalization influence environmental indicators in belt and road initiative countries?

This paper is the first comprehensive research to examine the effect of circular economy on environment employing two environmental degradation indicators (CO2 emissions, ecological footprint) and one environmental quality indicator (load capacity factor) for 57 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries during 2000-2019. The effect of other variables such as renewable energy, industrialization, and globalization was also controlled. The study applied the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag method (CS-ARDL), the augmented mean group (AMG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) methods as a robustness checks. The empirical findings reveal that circular economy and renewable energy have pro-environmental effects by decreasing carbon emissions and ecological footprint and increasing the load capacity factor in BRI countries. However, industrialization and globalization have detrimental effects on the environment. The result of causality shows a bidirectional causality between renewable energy, circular economy, industrialization, and three environmental indicators, but the relationship of globalization with CO2 emissions and the load capacity factor is unidirectional and with the ecological footprint is bidirectional. All the results are confirmed by the robustness tests. The study suggests policy implications for the BRI government.

The crucial roles of ICT, renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality in achieving environmental sustainability in BRICS

The BRICS countries-Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-are committed to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, which focuses on mitigating climate change. To attain this goal, it is crucial to emphasize the significance of ICT, renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality. This study contributes to the literature by examining the potential role of these factors in environmental sustainability in the BRICS economies from 2000 to 2021, utilizing cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) estimation and other novel econometric techniques. Accordingly, the study suggests that BRICS governments and policymakers prioritize the use of ICT in the industrial and institutional sectors to achieve faster environmental sustainability in the short-run, as per the CS-ARDL results. However, the study advises caution in the long-term as the interaction between ICT and renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality may not favour environmental quality. Although the renewable energy sources interaction with ICT may not yield immediate progress, strong measures need to be taken to ensure that short-term gains are not nullified. In conclusion, the study highlights the potential of ICT, renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality in achieving environmental sustainability in the BRICS countries, while recommending cautious measures in the long run to safeguard the progress made.

Particulate matter 2.5 causally increased genetic risk of autism spectrum disorder

BACKGROUND

Growing evidence suggested that particulate matter (PM) exhibit an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the causal association between PM and ASD risk remains unclear.

METHODS

We performed two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses, using instrumental variables (IVs) sourced from the largest genome-wide association studies (GWAS) databases. We employed three MR methods: inverse-variance weighted (IVW), weighted median (WM), and MR-Egger, with IVW method serving as our primary MR method. Sensitivity analyses were performed to ensure the stability of these findings.

RESULTS

The MR results suggested that PM2.5 increased the genetic risk of ASD (β = 2.41, OR = 11.13, 95% CI: 2.54-48.76, P < 0.01), and similar result was found for PM2.5 absorbance (β = 1.54, OR = 4.67, 95% CI: 1.21-18.01, P = 0.03). However, no such association was found in PM10 (β = 0.27, OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 0.72-2.36, P = 0.38). After adjusting for the false discovery rate (FDR) correction, our MR results remain consistent. Sensitivity analyses did not find significant heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicate that PM2.5 is a potential risk factor for ASD. Effective strategies to mitigate air pollutants might lead to a reduced incidence of ASD.

Impact of transportation infrastructure and urbanization on environmental pollution: evidence from novel wavelet quantile correlation approach

In terms of achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), the developing economies are facing many issues, and one of the key issues is environmental degradation. Being a developing economy, Pakistan is also experiencing thought-provoking impacts of global warming and still far away from the ideal track of sustainable development. For addressing environment-related issue and achieving the targets of SDGs, a policy-level reorientation might be necessary. In this view, this study investigates the impact of economic growth, transport infrastructure, urbanization, financial development, and renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions by using the data of Pakistan during 1990-2020. For this purpose, we use novel wavelet quantile correlation approach. The empirical results of wavelet quantile correlation approach demonstrate that economic growth, transport infrastructure, urbanization, and financial development are responsible for environmental pollution. Whereas, result also claims that renewable energy consumption is a useful tool for reducing environmental pollution in Pakistan. Moreover, the results of FMOLS approach show that 1% increase in economic growth, transportation infrastructure, urbanization, and financial development increases CO2 emissions by 0.240, 0.010, 0.478, and 0.102%, respectively. However, 1% increase in renewable energy usage reduces CO2 emission by 1.083%. Based on the empirical outcomes, this study proposes comprehensive policy framework for achieving the targets of SDG 7 (clean energy), SDG 8 (economic growth), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), and SDG 13 (climate action).

Environmental deterioration in the age of industrialization and production: do industrial competition and renewable energy reduce the ecological burden?

The modern era of globalization, economic development, and increase in manufacturing activity pose severe risks to the natural environment. In this context, industries must prioritize sustainable economic growth and development. Thus, the purpose of this study is to provide insight into industrial competition, renewable energy, economic freedom, manufacturing value added, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2 emissions) in the top ten high-income countries from 1997 to 2019. The results from panel cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL), augmented mean group (AMG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) techniques revealed that economic growth and industrial production have a harmful influence on CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, industrial competitiveness, renewable energy, and economic freedom are all negatively associated with CO2 emissions. This specifies that industrial competitiveness, renewable energy, and economic freedom are favorably related to environmental sustainability by limiting CO2 emissions in the top ten high-income countries. These findings imply that governments and responsible authorities/policymakers develop strategies to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing value addition and economic growth in the top ten high-income countries and allocate more financial resources to renewable energy and promote industrial competition.

Evaluating the variation characteristics of ecological resilience along expressways in developing countries: the case of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Cambodia

Expressway construction has caused a significant threat to the ecological environment in developing countries, and therefore the variation characteristics of ecological resilience along the expressway in developing countries are of major importance. This empirical study focuses on a typical area within a 2-km range of the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Cambodia and uses remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) technology to analyze the variation characteristics of ecological resilience along the expressway. The results of the study reveal that due to the construction of expressways, the land use types transferred into or out of the land use types increase and furthermore the land use types show a trend of decreasing natural attributes and increasing human attributes. It is found that expressway construction has an observed effect on the transfer rate of the center of gravity of land use type, and the direction of the center of gravity shifts in the direction of expressway construction. The impact of construction on the ecological resilience of the western region with higher vegetation coverage was higher than that of the eastern region with higher urbanization. The research develops a theoretical evaluation model based on land use type of the variation characteristics of ecological resilience along the expressway, which can be used to enable the sustainability of expressway construction and maintain the regional ecological environment.

Does globalization matter in the relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth, evidence from Asian emerging economies

The study aims to investigate the impact of social, economic and political globalization on the renewable energy-economic growth nexus in a panel of six Asian emerging economies over the period 1975-2020. The results of the CS-ARDL approach show that renewable energy consumption contributes significantly to long run economic growth. Economic and political globalization firmly hold back economic growth, while social globalization directly promotes economic growth. The nonlinear effects of political, social, and economic globalization on economic growth clearly demonstrate the validity of the inverted U-shaped relationship between political globalization, economic globalization, and economic growth, and the U-shaped relationship between social globalization and economic growth. The study also found that economic, social and political globalization moderated the impact of renewable energy on boosting economic growth. Based on the renewable energy consumption model, it is revealed that economic growth significantly promotes long run renewable energy consumption. Economic, social, and political globalization have significantly boosted long run renewable energy consumption. However, the nonlinear effect model reflects a U-shaped relationship between globalization indicators and renewable energy consumption. The interaction of political, economic, and social globalization with economic growth has also witnessed an increase in renewable energy consumption, which supports the scale effect hypothesis. The causality test concludes that there is a two-way causal relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth, thus supporting the feedback hypothesis. The policy implications for Asian emerging economies are discussed based on the empirical analysis of this study.

Economic freedom and carbon emissions across the globe: the mediating effect of renewable energy consumption

A growing number of studies have examined the extent to which economic liberalization policies would influence carbon emissions. These studies have examined this relationship while neglecting the key role that renewable energy could play in this complex relationship. The study fills that gap. It aims to examine the mediated effect of renewable energy consumption in the relationship between economic freedom and carbon emissions in 138 countries worldwide over the period 1995-2018. In this perspective, the study followed a second-generation panel econometric tests. We used Driscoll and Kraay standard errors (DKSE) and common correlated effect mean group (CCEMG) estimators for baseline results. The robustness of the results was checked using fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), system generalized method of moments (System-GMM), and quantile regression (QREG). Furthermore, the study mobilized Dumitrescu and Hurlin's panel causality test to examine the causal relationship between the variables under study. The results suggest that economic freedom has a direct and indirect negative effect on carbon emissions and that renewable energy consumption mediates the effect of economic freedom on carbon emissions. These results remained unchanged at the battery of robustness checks. Moreover, Dumitrescu and Hurlin's panel causality test results indicated a bidirectional causal relationship between economic freedom, renewable energy consumption, economic growth, economic globalization, and population size with carbon emissions. The various empirical findings have helped to formulate useful policy implications for policy-makers to ensure environmental sustainability.

Modelling the role of energy price movements toward economic stability in Malaysia: new evidence from wavelet-based analysis

Energy is one of the prime factors in influencing the sustainable development of a country. Different energy sources play important roles in driving the income growth of different economic sectors such as industrial, agricultural, and services. Fossil fuels, however, have come under strong criticism for actively accelerating climate change. As such, it is imperative to investigate the contributions of various energy sources toward sustainable growth. With Malaysia as the test-bed, the present study analyzes the impact of energy prices on economic stability using the novel wavelet-based analysis. Specifically, the study analyzed the impact of crude oil, natural gas, and gasoline prices on the economic (brown) and green growth from 1995 to 2020. The results show that in continuous wavelet transform, the cone of influence of all five factors exhibits strong short-run variance and fluctuations from 2005 to 2013. However, the intensity of brown growth is more influential than green growth. Similarly, in wavelet coherence graphs, the downward right arrows indicate positively significant associations between crude oil prices, natural gas prices, and gasoline prices with brown and green growth. Additionally, wavelet-based Granger causality reveals a bidirectional causal relationship between all variables. The results thus strongly suggest that energy prices predominantly affect the economic (brown) and green growth progression of the Malaysian economy. The study concludes with some suggested implications to augment the country's sustainable growth.

Globalization, institutions, and environmental quality in Middle East and North African countries

Sustainable development has received significant attention due to rapidly rising environmental issues, and finding solutions to these issues caused by various indicators are the subject of research nowadays. To this end, the increasing globalization and institutional quality to address environmental challenges have become hot subject and need better attention. Accordingly, this study enhances the literature by examining the role of political stability, the rule of law, control of corruption, and globalization on the environment for 14 Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries between 1996 & 2018, applying cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lags (CS-ARDL) approach. The short and long-run estimates obtained from CS-ARDL confirm that globalization, the rule of law, political stability, and corruption control significantly reduce carbon emissions (CO₂e). Contrarily, energy production, financial development, and economic growth have significant positive effects, suggesting they raise CO₂e. The study also estimates a robustness analysis with the Driscoll-Kraay estimator, confirming results on signs and magnitude identical to those with CS-ARDL. These results drive the MENA countries to adhere to environmental standards to reduce CO₂e strictly. Environmental-friendly industrial techniques should be employed, mainly while producing. The governments of these countries should facilitate the governance process through the globalization of environmental products to ensure long-term environmental sustainability.

Determinants of the CO2 emissions, economic growth, and ecological footprint in Pakistan: asymmetric and symmetric role of agricultural and financial inclusion

In this study, the effects of financial inclusion (FI), agricultural innovation (AI), trade (TR), and forest rent (FR) on carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂), economic growth (Y), and ecological footprint (EFP) for Pakistan from 1970 to 2017 are examined using symmetric and asymmetric cointegration approaches. These links are investigated using linear and non-linear autoregressive distributive lag (NARDL) techniques. In contrast to the asymmetry results, the symmetric results revealed no cointegration among the variables over the long run. Moreover, asymmetry results from the Y-model indicated that a positive shock in AI significantly affects Y over the long run while raising it over the short term. Furthermore, CO₂ rises in the wake of positive shocks like AI, Y, and FR but falls in the wake of adverse shocks. A negative shock to FI raises CO₂ temporarily, whereas a negative shock to FR causes CO₂ emissions to fall over time. According to the EFP-model, long-term EFP is decreased by both positive shocks to AI and adverse shocks to FR with one-period lags. On the other hand, positive shocks to FI and FR cause the short-term EFP to rise. In addition to a bidirectional causal relationship between Y, EFP, and FI, we found a one-way causative relationship between Y, FR, AI, CO₂, and EFP. The FMOLS estimator also supports NARDL estimations. The key recommendations to help Pakistan keep its environment and economy are to enhance green mechanization in agriculture, allocate adequate research and development funds, and initiate integrated environmental and economic growth policies by relevant institutions.

Does excessive energy utilization and expansion of urbanization increase carbon dioxide emission in Belt and Road economies?

The phenomenal increase in global temperature and variation in climate change are the replications of nature, alarming governments to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and adopt green innovation and environmental-friendly clean and green technologies. In this paper, we empirically investigate whether there are any changes in excessive consumption of energy from conventional sources, expansion of urbanization, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, and economic growth in six different regions, namely, East Asia (EA), South Asia (SA), Southeast Asia (SEA), Central Asia (CA), Eastern Europe (EE), and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), under the Belt and Road Initiatives of panel data over the period of 1985 to 2017. The empirical methods include a panel co-integration check, heterogeneity test, panel Granger causality test, pooled mean group (PMG), and augmented mean group (AMG). To verify the outcomes, robustness tests were carried out using the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) approaches. Our results confirm that CO₂ emissions are primarily influenced by excessive utilization of conventional energy, economic growth, and expansion of urbanization. The findings confirm the co-integrating relationships among the variables in all six regions. Moreover, the panel causality analysis identified a bidirectional causal relationship between energy consumption, economic growth, urbanization, and CO₂ emissions. While these results can play an instrumental role in formulating CO₂ emission policies among our selected countries, our research can also assist policymakers and governments in other developing countries implement important policy initiatives. In this regard, the findings suggest that the current environment-related polices of Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI) do not efficiently tackle CO₂ emissions. In order to achieve the CO₂ emission degradation objective, the Belt and Road countries should restructure their environment-related policies by limiting the consumption of conventional energy and expansion of urbanization. The adaptation and establishment of such a panoramic policy program can assist emerging economies to acquire consolidated and environmentally sustainable economic growth.

The symmetric and asymmetric impacts of green energy, eco-innovation, and urbanization in explaining low-carbon economy for Pakistan

Over the past three decades, global economic development patterns have considerably affected the natural environment, and economies have endured a plethora of environmental concerns as a result of the negative effects of climate change. Among them, Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country, and climate change has harmfully affected the ecological and socio-economic conditions of the country. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate the role of green energy consumption, eco-innovation, and urbanization while explaining the dream of low-carbon economy and environmental sustainability in the context of Pakistan using annual time series dataset spanning from 1990 to 2020. The short-run and long-run associations among explained and explanatory variables were investigated using the symmetric, asymmetric, and quantile autoregressive distributed lag models. The findings of the study demonstrated that low-carbon economy, green energy consumption, ecological innovation, urbanization, GDP per capita, and labor force are cointegrated for the long-term association in symmetric, asymmetric, and quantile autoregressive distributed lag models. Furthermore, green energy consumption and effective eco-innovation are the most important paths to ensure environmental sustainability, while urbanization, GDP per capita, and labor force contribute negatively to the low-carbon economy. The findings of the study provide a policy framework for the development of a comprehensive strategy to promote environmental sustainability in Pakistan by emphasizing green energy consumption, ecological innovation, and controlled urbanization, as well as the incorporation of environment friendly policies into economic development policies.