Environmental sustainability assessment using dynamic Autoregressive-Distributed Lag simulations-Nexus between greenhouse gas emissions, biomass energy, food and economic growth

Towards sustainable resource management: A short and long-run dynamics of mineral production on ecological footprint

The effect of mineral production on ecological footprint is examined in this study while controlling for economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and trade openness as additional determinants for Pakistan. On the empirical front, the study uses the "Dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (DYNARDL)" simulations for the data collected between 1990 and 2021. The result portrays movement to the long-run equilibrium relationship when considering the ecological footprint as the outcome variable amidst mineral production, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and trade openness as the covariates. Further, the finding shows temporal dynamics of mineral production on environmental quality with a short-term degradation versus long-term amelioration, which suggests that mineral production can be conducted more sustainably over time with an implication towards taking measures such as technological advancements, improved efficiency, and better waste management practices. Additionally, it failed to find evidence for the conventional "Environmental Kuznets Curve," implying a need for policy reevaluation, reassessment of economic development models and accounting for environmental externalities in economic decision-making. Besides, as expected, the outcome demonstrates that using renewable energy lowers the ecological footprint both in long and short terms, which indicates that utilization of renewable energy sources reduces reliance on fossil fuels, resulting in decreased environmental degradation, thereby fostering the need for emphasis on the importance of continued technological innovation in renewable energy technologies to reduce the ecological footprint further. Moreover, it shows that trade openness improves the environmental quality in the short run (worsens it in the long run), thereby highlighting that trade openness may lead to short-term environmental benefits by promoting cleaner technologies and increasing resource efficiency. However, in the long term, trade openness can exacerbate environmental degradation due to economic priorities often taking precedence over environmental concerns.

Does energy transition reduce carbon inequality? A global analysis

Energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables is instrumental in mitigating climate change. Low-income countries have a higher share of renewable energy in their total energy consumption than rich countries (WDI, 2023). Thus, it is imperative to examine the role of energy transition in affecting relative CO2 emissions between rich and poor sections of the societies across income groups of the countries. In this context, our study contributes by constructing the carbon inequality models with renewable and non-renewable energy consumption as prime explanatory variables separately for 114 countries over a data period 1990-2019. The models are estimated individually for high-middle-low-income countries by controlling for foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth, and innovations. Starting with preliminary econometric operations, we employ the dynamic simulated panel autoregressive distributed lag approach and Driscoll-Kraay standard error regression for empirical investigation. We find that energy transition reduces carbon inequality globally. Innovation has a negative impact, economic growth has a positive impact on carbon inequality, and FDI has an asymmetric impact based on the income level of the countries. The crucial global policy implications are discussed.

Spatial effect of biomass energy consumption on carbon emissions reduction: the role of globalization

As globalization proceeds, increasing biomass energy consumption is an important pathway to replace fossil fuels for tackling climate change by reducing emissions. This study explores the spatial spillover effect in biomass energy carbon reduction, which is frequently ignored when investigating environmental factors. It uncovers whether globalization and its dimensions can strengthen the spatial effect of biomass energy carbon reduction. Besides, we reveal whether biomass energy consumption can promote CO2 emissions reduction while ensuring economic progress. Results show that (1) owing to the spillover effect, biomass energy consumption plays a significant role in direct and indirect enhancing carbon emissions reduction, with their feedback effects of - 0.003 or 3.3% of the direct effect. (2) Increasing overall, social and political globalization enhances biomass energy consumption's carbon reduction effect. (3) In countries with higher economic development, overall, economic and political globalization has a better promotion in the spatial effect of biomass energy carbon reduction. (4) Developing biomass energy can support the environment quality while enhancing economic growth.

Energy security-related risks and the quest to attain USA's net-zero emissions targets by 2050: a dynamic ARDL simulations modeling approach

The Russia-Ukraine war and other similar conflicts across the globe have heightened risks to the United States of America's (USA's) energy security. However, little is known about the severity of the effect of energy security risks on the USA's quest to attain net-zero emissions targets by 2050. To this end, we examine the effect of energy security risks on the load capacity factor (LCF) in the USA. Employing a time series dataset spinning from 1970 to 2018, the results of the Dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) simulations model suggest that energy security-related risk hampers the long-term net-zero emissions targets with its effect decreasing over time until it varnishes in about 5 years time. The results also show that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, renewable energy consumption, and green technology have long- and short-run positive effects on the LCF. Conversely, economic expansion and urbanization impede environmental quality by lowering the LCF both in the long run and short run. These findings are upheld by the outcomes of the multivariate quantile-on-quantile regression. Therefore, the study advocates for the consumption of renewable energy, investment in green technologies, and FDI inflows to mitigate energy security-related risks and attain the net-zero emissions targets by 2050 in the USA.

Microbial community dynamics and functional potentials in the conversion of oil palm wastes into biomethane

Oil palm processing generates substantial waste materials rich in organic content, posing various environmental challenges. Anaerobic digestion (AD), particularly for palm oil mill effluent (POME), offers a sustainable solution, by converting waste into valuable biomethane for thermal energy or electricity generation. The synergistic activities of the AD microbiota directly affect the biomethane production, and the microbial community involved in biomethane production in POME anaerobic digestion has been reported. The composition of bacterial and archaeal communities varies under different substrate and physicochemical conditions. This review discusses the characteristics of POME, explores the microbial members engaged in each stage of AD, and elucidates the impacts of substrate and physicochemical conditions on the microbial community dynamics, with a specific focus on POME. Finally, the review outlines current research needs and provides future perspectives on optimizing the microbial communities for enhanced biomethane production from oil palm wastes.

Technology transfer for green investments: exploring how technology transfer through foreign direct investments can contribute to sustainable practices and reduced environmental impact in OIC economies

Estimating the asymmetrical influence of foreign direct investment is the primary goal of the current study. In addition, further controlled variables affect environmental degradation in OIC nations. Due to this, current research employs the asymmetric (NPARDL) approach and the data period from 1980 to 2021 to estimate about viability of the EKC (environmental Kuznets curve) theory. The study utilized greenhouse gas (GHG) including emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4), and ecological footprint as substantial parameters of environmental quality. A nonlinear link between foreign direct investments, trade openness, economic growth, urbanization, energy consumption, and environmental pollution with CO2, N2O, CH4, and ecological footprint in the OIC nations is confirmed by the study's outcomes, which however reveals inconsistent results. Furthermore, the results also show that wrong conclusions might result from disregarding intrinsic nonlinearities. The study's conclusions provide the most important recommendations for decision-makers.

Indicator-based assessments of the coupling coordination degree and correlations of water-energy-food-ecology nexus in Uzbekistan

Grappling with the global ecological concern of the Aral Sea disaster, Uzbekistan exemplifies the urgent necessity of unravelling and addressing the complex Water-Energy-Food-Ecology (WEFE) nexus conflicts in arid regions, a critical task yet largely uncharted. Through the strategic process of 'Indicator Articulation - Weight Calibration - Nexus Coordination Quantification - Correlational Analysis', this work has developed a tailored framework that integrates a novel, context-specific indicator system, enabling an illumination of the intricate dynamics within the WEFE nexus in arid regions. During 2000-2018, the WEFE Nexus in Uzbekistan showed low-level coordination, indicating systemic imbalances. The Aral Sea crisis was the central disruptor, resulting in a moderately disordered ecological subsystem. Concurrently, disorder was observed in water resources, signaling inadequate management and potential overutilization. Furthermore, Coordination for energy and food were barely coordinated and under primary coordination respectively, underlining critical challenges in energy efficiency and food security. Over the last two decades, the WEFE Nexus has evolved towards a tighter interlinkage, yet the stability of this coupling coordination has experienced increased fluctuations, indicating that Uzbekistan's policies in the WEFE subsystems have been less stable in the last two decades and are in need of further adjustment and improvement. To address the challenges, we recommend a comprehensive approach that integrates technological, infrastructure, and policy solutions is needed. Specifically, promoting water-saving irrigation technology, renewing and maintaining outdated energy facilities, and raising public awareness of ecological protection are part of the essential measures. Furthermore, alleviating the contradiction between economic growth and ecological conservation remains a major challenge. Collectively, our constructed WEFE Nexus framework, with its extendable and context-specific indicators, holds significant potential for broad application in the analysis of multi-sectoral sustainability, particularly within arid regions globally, and forms a solid foundation for the formulation of effective, targeted policies and sustainable development strategies.

Approaches to mitigation of hydrogen sulfide during anaerobic digestion process - A review

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the primary technology for energy production from wet biomass under a limited oxygen supply. Various wastes rich in organic content have been renowned for enhancing the process of biogas production. However, several other intermediate unwanted products such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, carbon dioxide, siloxanes and halogens have been generated during the process, which tends to lower the quality and quantity of the harvested biogas. The removal of hydrogen sulfide from wastewater, a potential substrate for anaerobic digestion, using various technologies is covered in this study. It is recommended that microaeration would increase the higher removal efficiency of hydrogen sulfide based on a number of benefits for the specific method. The process is primarily accomplished by dosing smaller amounts of oxygen in the digester, which increases the system's oxidizing capacity by rendering the sulfate reducing bacteria responsible for converting sulfate ions to hydrogen sulfide inactive. This paper reviews physicochemical and biological methods that have been in place to eliminate the effects of hydrogen sulfide from wastewater treated anaerobically and future direction to remove hydrogen sulfide from biogas produced.

Diversification in the tourism sector and economic growth in Australia: a disaggregated analysis

In most countries inclusive of Australia, tourism policies do not only deal with how to diversify tourism markets but also how to diversify tourism activities. Efforts are often made to increase the inflows of tourists from different source markets and to improve arrivals for various tourism activities. However, the existing literature on the economic impact of the diversification of the sector has not dealt with the economic impact of diversification of tourism markets. This study aims to examine the economic impact of diversification of both tourism markets and tourism activities. Using a newly developed tourism diversification index, the focus of the study is on Australia for the period, 1976–2020. Utilizing a dynamic autoregressive lag simulation approach, the results suggest that diversification of tourism markets and activities generated positive economic growth in Australia in line with the notion of tourism‐led growth hypothesis. Empirical results outline that a 1% increase in diversification of tourism markets and activities generated increases in the gross domestic product by 0.010% and 0.070%, respectively. One of the implications of the results is that policies to diversify tourism markets and activities will be beneficial to the economy in Australia.

How do carbon emissions, economic growth, population growth, trade openness and employment influence food security? Recent evidence from the East Africa

East Africa has a substantially greater rate of food insecurity than other regions of the world. Scenarios of climate change and other macroeconomic variables are important contributors to food insecurity in East Africa. Using data spanning from 1990 to 2020, this study looked into the influence of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, economic growth, population growth, trade openness, and agricultural employment on food security in the East Africa. The fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) models were used in this study. The heterogeneous panel cointegration test's findings indicated that the study variables have an equilibrium long-term connections. The estimation findings from the FMOLS and DOLS models showed that an increase in CO₂ emissions increases food security in the East Africa over the long term. According to other findings, long-term food security is positively impacted by economic expansion, population growth, trade openness, and employment in agriculture. However, trade openness has a detrimental long-lasting effect on food security. Future research directions, research limitations, and policy implications are discussed.

Investigating the impacts of biomass energy consumption and natural resource rent on economic growth under various regimes in emerging economies

In view of the increase in environmental degradation and the deterioration of natural resources, a set of previous studies has focused on clean energy sources, especially biomass energy. Although studies on the effects of biomass energy on economic growth have been given increasing attention recently, this research topic remains insufficiently investigated and the results remain inconclusive. Emerging countries, whether or not they are abundant in natural resources, rely heavily on energy sources that promise economic growth while being clean. This study examines the effects of biomass energy and natural resource rents on economic growth in the case of 14 selected emerging countries during the period 1984-2017, by applying a long-term approach and also following an analysis of various effects under different quantiles. The paper is aimed at developing a sustainable growth model by studying the varying economic effects of biomass energy consumption and natural resource rents (NRR) at different scales of economic growth. The purpose of the paper is, therefore, to verify whether biomass energy as a renewable energy can constitute a lever for economic expansion in different economic cycles. Panel quantile regression was used to analyze the varying effects of biomass energy consumption on economic growth, supported by a long-term analysis based on the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) methods. The findings showed that emerging countries did not experience the same effects of biomass energy and natural resource rents on their economic growth. Indeed, the results of the quantile regression support the neutral hypothesis and suggest that biomass energy and natural resource rents do not have positive effects on economic growth whatever the level of economic development of the selected emerging countries. Further analysis revealed that the growth hypothesis is confirmed only for Oil-Rich Emerging Countries (OREC) and for medium and high levels of economic growth. The long-term analysis based on the FMOLS and DOLS techniques also supports the positive effects of biomass energy consumption on economic growth. The findings also indicated that only Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC countries) benefit from positive effects of natural resource rents on economic growth in the long term and for the different quantiles. The originality of this paper lies in its provision of a method for decision makers to reconcile natural resources and biomass energy as a renewable energy source in their economic development strategies based on recorded economic growth.

Role of financial development, foreign direct investment inflow, innovation in environmental degradation in Pakistan with dynamic ARDL simulation model

The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of innovation, economic growth, financial development, trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), electricity consumption, and urbanization on the environmental degradations in Pakistan. This study has employed the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL), to investigate the actual change in the independent variables and its impact on the dependent variable through graphs. The findings demonstrate that energy consumption, GDP growth, urbanization, and trade negatively influence the carbon emissions in the short term. On the other hand, the findings indicate that in the long term, only GDP growth and trade had a significantly negative impact on emissions. Urbanization has a positive and considerable impact on the emissions of carbon dioxide in the long run. On the other hand, financial development and foreign direct investment (FDI) help reduce the environmental degradation in the short term and long term. Moreover, innovation positively affects the carbon emissions in both the long and short run. Policy recommendations are given based on the findings of this study.

Bibliometrics of the nexus between food security and carbon emissions: hotspots and trends

With the growth of global food demand, agricultural carbon emissions caused by agricultural production have become a major challenge in controlling global warming. However, a systematic and visual literature review of food security and carbon emissions (FSCE) is still lacking, and there is a lack of exploration on the balanced path between ensuring food security and realizing carbon emission reduction. Based on 872 articles related to FSCE in the Web of Science (WOS) core database, this paper used CiteSpace and VOSviewer bibliometric software to analyze the relevant research focus and trends. This study found that developed countries dominated the research in this field, and the quantity, quality, and intensity of their authors, institutions, and cooperation among countries are higher than those of developing countries. Although the intensity of interdisciplinary cooperation has increased, it remains at a low level. Since 2007, the number of papers published in this field has increased significantly, and the research perspectives have diversified. Moreover, the research theme continues to expand with the core of "food security," involving the impact of climate change, crop production and food security, soil carbon sequestration, and farmers' livelihood sustainability. In addition, food production, food transportation, and food loss reduction are key paths that need to be balanced to ensure global food security and realize carbon emission reduction, and how to promote "economic growth" under the constraints of FSCE will be a future research hotspot.

Do renewable energies contribute to enhancing environmental quality in Eastern Africa?

East Africa has enormous renewable energy potential, but only a small portion of it has been exploited, and little is known on its role in improving environmental quality. Thus, this study empirically examines the impact of renewable energy on the environment using ecological footprint (EF; positive indicator) and CO₂ emissions (negative indicator) as proxy indicators for environmental quality in a panel of ten East African countries from 1990 to 2015. These indicators were chosen due to their potential impact in the environment. The work used the pooled mean group (PMG) as the main panel estimator to determine the impact while controlling non-renewable energy consumption, GDP per capita, and foreign direct investment (FDI). PMG has been used as it forces the long-run coefficients to be equal across all panel groups. The findings show that in the long run, there is a significant negative relationship between CO₂ emissions and renewable energy consumption, as well as a significant positive relationship (with a low impact) between EF and renewable energy consumption, suggesting that renewable energy use enhances the area's environmental quality. Also, results indicate that non-renewable energy use degrades environmental quality in both metrics, whereas GDP degrades environmental quality through CO₂ emissions and improves environmental quality through EF. This requires East African countries to focus a higher emphasis on accessible renewable energy sources to achieve quick and sustainable economic growth and minimize environmental effects. To accomplish this, strategic policies and legislation, as well as the promotion of green technology, are required.

Sustainable environment, energy and finance in China: evidence from dynamic modelling using carbon emissions and ecological footprints

This study investigates sustainable finance along with sustainable economic factors on both carbon emissions and ecological footprints in China. A novel Dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag technique is applied; results revealed sustainable finance exerts positive/negative influence on carbon emissions in the long and short run, respectively. Results are robust with ecological footprints that sustainable finance placed a lucrative cause to preserve the environment. Sustainable economic factors show a positive impact on carbon emissions in the long run, whilst economic growth, energy consumption and exports improve environmental quality. Conversely, in the short run, urbanisation supports the environment whilst economic development, energy use and exports exert a positive impact. In addition, this study suggests useful policy implications for the stakeholders.

A systematic approach for assessing water, energy and food security during the COVID-19 pandemic: case study of Mexico

Assessing the security of the water-energy-food nexus is a topic of great importance, which allows determining the situation of each resource to implement actions for sustainable management of these resources in today's society. For this reason, a systematic procedure is proposed to evaluate the synergies of the water-energy-food nexus in a large region that is divided into subregions that allow considering their interactions. The new procedure considers the availability, accessibility and regional interdependence of resources while annexing economic and social aspects. A composite index called the WEF Global Index is developed, which involves the WEF nexus index and has nine indicators that evaluate the availability, accessibility and regional interdependence of each resource in the water-energy-food nexus. This new index considers the Gross Domestic Product per capita and the involved population. As a case study, the 32 states of Mexico were considered to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and the security of the water-energy-food nexus at the state level. For this, the composite index was evaluated in the years 2019 and 2020. The results show that from 2019 to 2020, the value of the global index increased in 13 states, in 21 states the security index of the WEF nexus increased, and in 9 states the GDP per capita index increased. On the other hand, the results indicate that in 11 states there was no improvement in the nexus security index due to the increase in water demand, which considerably affected the water availability indicator.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-022-02671-2.

The assessment of environmental sustainability: The role of research and development in ASEAN countries

Considering the set targets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to increase research and development (R&D) expenditures, this study probes the long-term and causal association between renewable energy (RE), nonrenewable energy (NRE), economic growth (GDP), and ecological footprints (EFs) in the context of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). Empirical evidence is based on the panel data throughout the period 1990-2016 for the selected six ASEAN economies. The Westerlund co-integration test confirms the long-run association between R&D, RE, NRE, GDP, and EF. The results of Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) confirm the presence of EKC and show that R&D expenditures lower EF significantly. A 1% increase in R&D and RE decreases EF by 0.01% and 0.27%, respectively. Moreover, a 1% increase in GDP and NRE increases EF by 5.52% and 0.17%, respectively. This means that investment in R&D will enhance air quality by lowering EF in estimated panel countries. Moreover, NRE consumption and GDP increase EF. The panel causality results confirm the bidirectional association between GDP, RE use, R&D expenditures, and EF. To achieve a desirable goal of a clean environment, R&D expenditures hold a strong position for ASEAN countries. This finding should encourage governments to involve public and private investments in R&D programs for energy efficiency. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:1313-1320. © 2021 SETAC.

A Comprehensive Review of Biodegradable Polymer-Based Films and Coatings and Their Food Packaging Applications

Food sectors are facing issues as a result of food scarcity, which is exacerbated by rising populations and demand for food. Food is ordinarily wrapped and packaged using petroleum-based plastics such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and others. However, the excessive use of these polymers has environmental and health risks. As a result, much research is currently focused on the use of bio-based materials for food packaging. Biodegradable polymers that are compatible with food products are used to make edible packaging materials. These can be ingested with food and provide consumers with additional health benefits. Recent research has shifted its focus to multilayer coatings and films-based food packaging, which can provide a material with additional distinct features. The aim of this review article is to investigate the properties and applications of several bio-based polymers in food packaging. The several types of edible film and coating production technologies are also covered separately. Furthermore, the use of edible films and coatings in the food industry has been examined, and their advantages over traditional materials are also discussed.

The influence of FDI on GHG emissions in BRI countries using spatial econometric analysis strategy: the significance of biomass energy consumption

Indeed, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plays an increasingly important role in global economic and climate change mitigation. However, scientists have insufficient attention to the issues related to the elements that contribute to justifying these impacts and bolstering its response in BRI nations. Accordingly, the existent study executed an in-depth examination of the spatial direct and spillover effects of foreign direct investment inflows (FDI) and biomass energy consumption (BEC) on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) for 57 BRI countries (1992-2012). We applied the spatial lag model (SLM), the spatial error model (SEM), and the spatial Durbin model (SDM) with five different weights matrices to verify the existence of the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH), the pollution halo hypothesis (P-HH), and the N-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). We linked the study results with the implementation level of the sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The findings of local Moran's I (LMI) and Lagrange Multiplier (LM) tests confirm the existence of spatial autocorrelation (SAR). The empirical results revealed that FDI has a positive direct and spillover influence on GHG emissions, which supports the presence of PHH. Also, the nexus between economic growth and GHG emission is an N-shaped curve. The results revered that BEC has a negative sign for direct and spillover effects. In contrast to BEC, Fossil Fuel Energy Consumption (FFEC) and population positively sign for direct and indirect impact. Some policy proposals and future research directions are discussed for BRI countries.

Modeling the dynamic nexus among CO2 emissions, fossil energy usage, and human development in East Africa: new insight from the novel DARDL simulation embeddedness

This study investigates the relationship among CO₂ emissions, human development index, and fossil energy usage. Essentially, the study was informed by the Sustainable Development Goal 7, which stipulates universal access to renewable and contemporary energy technologies. We employed the novel dynamic autoregressive-distributed lag (DARDL) simulations with a dataset spanning between 1980 and 2020 from East Africa Community (EAC). The study revealed that human development, access to electricity, and trade have a strong correlation with carbon emissions in the long term, whereas fossil energy usage and economic growth have a negative connection with carbon emission. On the other hand, in the short run, human development and fossil energy usage have a positive correlation with carbon emission, while economic growth and foreign direct investment have a negative correlation with carbon emission. Thus, policies that are tailored to enhance the political environment in East Africa are crucial to ensuring realistic access to clean and modern electricity. In relation to the environmental policy of the East African Community; this study advocates for measures to increase the availability of less harmful and renewable energy sources, as well as investments in energy-efficient technologies.

Financial inclusion and environmental sustainability in Ghana: application of the dynamic ARDL estimator

Numerous explorations have been conducted on the determinants of Ghana's environmental quality. However, to the best of my knowledge, there has been no research on the connection between financial inclusion and environmental sustainability in the country. This study was therefore conducted to help fill that gap. In attaining the aforestated goal, econometric techniques that yield valid and reliable outcomes were engaged. From the results, all the series were first differenced stationary and cointegrated in the long run. The DARDL estimator with the support of the conventional ARDL estimator was adopted to explore the marginal effects of the predictors on the explained variable, and from the results, financial inclusion worsened environmental sustainability in the nation via high carbon emissions. Also, foreign direct investments degraded the country's ecological quality validating the pollution haven hypothesis. Finally, trade openness, population growth, and energy consumption were detrimental to environmental sustainability in the nation. On the causal directions amidst the series, unidirectional causalities from financial inclusion and trade openness to carbon effusions were disclosed. Also, feedback causalities between foreign direct investments and carbon emissions; between population growth and carbon effluents; and between energy consumption and carbon exudates were unfolded. The study recommended among others that, financial establishments should not fund the production of carbon-intensive goods, but those that are friendly to the environment. The government can also help to improve environmental sustainability by establishing regulations to mandate financial entities to engage in eco-friendly activities.

Role of financial stability, technological innovation, and renewable energy in achieving sustainable development goals in BRICS countries

Global warming is the buzzword these days, where researchers and policymakers are working hard to figure out its causes and how we can achieve sustainable development goals. Several research studies have been conducted to determine the key factors that influence environmental degradation. However, studies have ignored the role of financial institutions in achieving sustainable development goals. Therefore, the present study evaluates the influence of financial stability on consumption-based-carbon emission for BRICS countries in the presence of renewable energy, technological innovation, industry value-added, and international trade over the period of 1995 to 2018. This study has simulated its analyses by utilizing the spatial Durbin model through the spatial time-fixed effect technique due to the cross-border spillover effect. The results show that financial stability, technological innovation, economic growth, and imports contribute to consumption-based carbon emissions, whereas renewable energy and exports negatively influence consumption-based carbon emissions. In the case of cross-border spillover analysis, the study's findings revealed that only renewable energy has a positive spillover effect among the variables with a significant effect, whereas economic growth and bilateral export have a negative effect on consumption-based carbon emission.

Testing the EKC hypothesis for the USA by avoiding aggregation bias: a microstudy by subsectors

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of foreign direct investments, economic growth, and energy consumption on carbon dioxide subcomponents in the case of the USA. Dynamic ARDL (DARDL) econometric method is used covering the period 1972-2020. In addition to the total CO2 emission, the subcomponents of CO2 emission are examined separately within the framework of the EKC hypothesis in the USA by avoiding aggregation bias for the first time. The CO2 emission subcomponents used in the study are as follows; CO2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption, residential buildings, and commercial and public services; electricity and heat production; and other sectors, excluding residential buildings and commercial and public services, and CO2 emissions from transportation. Each CO2 emission component is used as a dependent variable and 6 different models were created. Foreign direct investments, trade, and energy consumption are used as control variables. No results supporting the EKC hypothesis are determined in any model, except for model 1, where total CO2 emission is the dependent variable. In addition, the trade variable has been determined as an important factor in reducing CO2 emissions in the short and long term. Trade and GDP per capita increasing and energy consumption reducing will show positive results in order to increase the environmental quality in the USA. Moreover, the study in which this EKC hypothesis is tested with CO2 emission and its subcomponents is an important study in terms of providing the opportunity to analyze the environmental quality from different angles at the same time and to take various measures together in the US economy.

Green investments, financial development, and environmental quality in Ghana: evidence from the novel dynamic ARDL simulations approach

Numerous studies have examined the influence of macroeconomic factors on environmental quality in Ghana. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no study on the connection between green investments, financial development, and environmental quality in the context of this Sub-Saharan African country. This study was therefore conducted to help fill this gap using annual frequency time series data ranging from 1970 to 2018. In attaining the objectives of this study, robust econometric techniques were employed. From the results, all the variables were first differenced stationary and cointegrated in the long run. The dynamic ARDL simulations technique with the support of the ARDL estimator was employed to examine the elastic effects of the predictors on the response variable, and from the discoveries, green investments improved environmental quality in Ghana both in the long and the short run via carbon dioxide mitigations. However, in both the long and the short run, financial development and energy utilization had a detrimental influence on environmental quality due to their positive influence on carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, the N-shaped association between national income and environmental pollution was validated for Ghana. On the causal directions amidst the variables, there was no causality between green investments and environmental degradation was evidenced; however, a bidirectional causality between financial development and environmental pollution was also discovered. Also, unidirectional causalities running from national income and energy consumption to environmental degradation were discovered. Based on the findings, the study recommend that investments in green sources should be intensified to help improve environmental quality in Ghana. Furthermore, improving developments in the financial sector is a vital means through which the country could attain its sustainable development goals.

Sustainability challenges in Peru: embossing the role of economic integration and financial development-application of novel dynamic ARDL simulation

Inspired by the commitment to address the environmental challenges in Peru under the UN Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action) and its implications by 2030, therefore, this study investigates the combined role of economic globalization, financial development, and fossil fuel intensity consumption using a combination of dynamic ARDL counterfactual simulation and kernel-based regularized least squares within the context of Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology over the period 1971-2017. This research output confirms the inverted-U-shaped hypothesis between economic growth and carbon emissions. In contrast, the kernel-based regularized least squares confirms the scale effect and fossil curse hypothesis in the relationship between financial development and carbon emission, and heterogeneous effects in economic integration and carbon emission. We further document that financial development, fossil fuel consumption, urban population, affluence (economic growth), and government final consumption expenditure spur environmental pollution while economic integration reduces it. This study recommends Peru to instill environmental justice through regulations and policies restricting inflows into an exploration of environmentally unsustainable projects within Peruvian metropolises or in the Peruvian Amazon. There is a need to revisit finance and investment laws and increase investment in low-carbon infrastructure within Peru.

Growing green through biomass energy consumption: the role of natural resource and globalization in a world economy

Energy consumption supports the basic needs of society. The way energy is produced matters for the global economy and environmental quality. The present study explores the impact of biomass energy consumption on environmental quality across heterogeneous income groups over the period 1971-2018. The cointegration is analyzed through the Wester-Lund cointegration test. The study used Fully Modified (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) to examine the long-run relationship between biomass energy and environmental quality in the presence of economic growth, urbanization, natural resource, and globalization. The results validate the potential of biomass energy consumption for emission reduction in the high-income group while environmental deteriorating role in upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income groups. Our empirical findings support an inverted U-shaped relationship in the high-income and upper-middle-income groups while a U-shaped relationship between income and environmental quality exists in lower-middle-income and low-income groups. Globalization improves environmental quality in high-income and upper-middle-income groups while resulting in higher emissions in lower-middle, and low-income economies. Natural resource rent degrades the environment in high-income economies while lowering emissions in upper-middle, lower, and low-income economies. The results from Pooled Mean group and Driscoll Kray estimation also support these findings.

Modelling the effects of energy diversification on ecological footprint: evidence from Côte d'Ivoire

Energy diversification is a vital contribution to sustainable development. Many countries are accelerating the diversification of their energy mix to meet the challenges of the energy transition. This study aims to model and investigate the effects of energy diversification on the ecological footprint of production in Côte d'Ivoire. The study uses an autoregressive distributed lag model with structural breaks and covers the period 1971-2015. Energy diversification is measured by an "Energy Mix Concentration Index," a concentration indicator based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. The results suggest that, in the short term, energy diversification reduces the ecological footprint of production in Côte d'Ivoire, and is conducive for environmental protection. In the long term, energy diversification also has a reducing effect on the ecological footprint of production up to a certain threshold where energy concentration increases the ecological footprint. The study finds that there is an optimal level of energy diversification that is ideal for achieving a lower impact of energy diversification activities and exploitation of energy production sources on the environment in Côte d'Ivoire. The commissioning of the Azito power plant in 1999, which produces electricity using natural gas, has also had a major impact, not only on the country's energy mix since then, but also on its ecological footprint of production.

Biomass energy consumption and economic growth: insights from BRICS and developed countries

This study analyzes the causal associations between economic growth (GDP) and biomass energy consumption (BIO) in the US, UK, and BRICS countries for the period 1990 to 2020 in time-frequency space. The use of wavelets is what distinguishes our approach, i.e., cross wavelet transform, wavelet coherence, and the wavelet-based Granger causality method proposed by Olayeni (2016), which quantifies the causal associations in the time-frequency space. The results uncover that the causal relationships between GDP and BIO are not uniform across time and frequency. In fact, there is a positive relationship between GDP and BIO indicators in the BRICS countries in the medium and long term and in the USA and UK in the short term throughout the research period. In addition, a bidirectional causal effect between GDP and BIO exists in China, Brazil, and India, while there is no long-run causal relationship between GDP and BIO in India and South Africa. The causal impacts of economic growth on biomass energy usage are more pronounced in these countries than in the opposite direction, especially over longer time horizons. The key conclusion is that these countries should boost their biomass energy consumption to promote economic growth and reduce energy reliance.

“Does Institutional Quality, Natural Resources, Globalization, and Renewable Energy Contribute to Environmental Pollution in China? Role of Financialization”

Our study explores the impact of financialization on carbon emissions by utilizing diverse financialization proxies, particularly for China. We examine the impact of financialization, institutional quality, globalization, natural resources, trade openness, and renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption on environmental pollution over the period 1996–2017 by utilizing dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulations. The empirical findings of the study indicate that institutional quality, trade, globalization, natural resources, and renewable energy consumption significantly decrease environmental pollution in the long run, while foreign direct investment and financialization have neutral effects on carbon emissions. Our findings demonstrate that a 1% increase in institutional quality, trade, IFDI, renewable energy, and globalization leads to a decrease in CO2 emissions by 0.198, 0.016, 0.075, 0.010, and 0.072%, respectively. Even though financialization indexes contributed insignificantly to environmental degradation, other explanatory variables significantly affected carbon emissions through indirect effects of financialization. Financialization indexes behave in a similar context, and these proxy indicators are good parameters to understand the complex nature of financialization. Moreover, in order to achieve low carbon emissions and sustainable development, countries need viable financial institutions that focus on green growth by promoting clean production process strategies to ensure the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Heading towards sustainable environment: exploring the dynamic linkage among selected macroeconomic variables and ecological footprint using a novel dynamic ARDL simulations approach

Ever since the emancipation of a country, its environmental quality has undergone a significant transition during the development phases; Bangladesh is no exception. Bangladesh is facing a serious threat in the age of global warming, and climate change as the country is looking forward in achieving the SDGs by 2030. Yet, there is a dearth of study regarding the relationship among crucial macroeconomic drivers and ecological footprint (a proxy for environmental degradation). Under the circumstances, this study explores the effects of economic growth, capital formation, urbanization, trade openness, energy use, and technological innovation on the ecological footprint by adopting the novel dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) simulations approach for Bangladesh, using annual frequency data from 1972 to 2017. Empirical results from the bounds test ascertained that there exists a long-run equilibrium association among the outlined variables. Furthermore, the novel dynamic ARDL simulation results revealed that Bangladesh is yet to achieve the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. It was observed that the Bangladesh economy is still at the scale stage of its economic trajectory, emphasizing economic growth relative to her environmental status. However, capital formation, urbanization, and energy use seemed to degrade environmental quality, while trade openness and technological innovation upgraded the environmental quality. Putting it more elaborately, a unit escalation in GDP per capita increases the ecological footprint by 0.829% in the long run, while a unit increase in energy consumption upsurges the ecological footprint by 1.074% and 0.761% in the long run and short run, respectively. As regards technology innovation, one unit increase in it cutbacks the ecological footprint by 0.596% in the long run. Furthermore, the frequency domain causality unveiled the long-run feedback effect between economic growth and ecological footprint. The study further presents possible recommendations that can sustainably address environmental issues, keeping the economy buoyant.

Exploring the Road toward Environmental Sustainability: Natural Resources, Renewable Energy Consumption, Economic Growth, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Despite the fact that China’s economy has grown swiftly since the reform and opening up, the problem of environmental degradation in China has become increasingly significant. Therefore, this paper uses China as an example to examine the dynamic relationship between the highlighted variables (renewable energy consumption, economic growth, oil rent, and natural resources) and greenhouse gas emissions (a proxy for environmental sustainability). Using annual data over the period 1971–2018 and employing the auto-regressive distributed lag bounds approach to perform an empirical analysis, the results suggest that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between the highlighted variables and greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, renewable energy consumption and oil rent contribute to environmental sustainability because of their negative effects on greenhouse gas emissions. On the contrary, economic growth and natural resources hinder environmental sustainability due to their positive effects on greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, using the fully modified ordinary least squares approach and dynamic ordinary least squares approach to conduct a robustness test, the results also support the previous findings. To conclude, the findings of this paper may provide some solutions for China’s environmental sustainability.

Environmental Regulations and CO2 Mitigation for Sustainability: Panel Data Analysis (PMG, CCEMG) for BRICS Nations

The relationship between income and pollution is contested, yet wealth alone is insufficient to regulate emissions, which necessitates environmental regulations. Even if inadequate environmental laws may overcome market failures produced by pollution’s negative externality, a thorough examination of their function in pollution management is critical. This research takes a step forward in offering a fresh viewpoint on the function of environmental laws in pollution reduction for BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations to better understand the role of environmental regulations in CO2 emission mitigation. The research presented here uses panel data econometric methodologies to achieve this goal, using data from 1995 to 2018. In addition, to provide country-specific findings, the research employs a completely modified ordinary least squares estimator. Environmental laws provide a beneficial influence in reducing carbon emissions. According to the empirical findings, the present environmental regulation positively meets pollution reduction objectives in chosen nations. The environment Kuznets curve (EKC) between pollution and income is controlled by environmental restrictions. Climate change mitigation in BRICS nations is driven by strong environmental policies and economic growth.

Economic complexity, tourism, energy prices, and environmental degradation in the top economic complexity countries: fresh panel evidence

The study explores the association between economic complexity index (ECI), tourism (TR), gross domestic products (GDP), gross domestic products per capita (GPC), and energy prices indices (EPI) on CO₂e using the top 18 economic complexity index countries data from 1990 to 2019. We employ the second-generation cointegration methods and cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) to analyze the short- and long-term association also Dumitrescu and Hurlin Granger causality test applied. The results of Pesaran and Yamagata slope heterogeneity and Pesaran CD test confirm the presence of cross-sectional unit relationship and slope heterogeneity across countries, while positive long- and short-term associations were found among ECI, GDP, and CO₂e. Also, TR, GPC, and EPI decrease carbon emissions both in the long and short term . Moreover, Augmented Mean Group (AMG) techniques verified and support these findings. The outcomes of the Dumitrescu and Hurlin Granger causality test showed that any policy aim at ECI, TR, GDP, GPC, and EPI has a considerable impact on CO₂e. Based on the rigorous empirical analysis, we suggest that economic complexity, tourism, GDP, GPC, and energy prices would help alleviate high economic complexity countries' environmental degradation challenges.

Nonlinear impact of biomass energy consumption on ecological footprint in a fossil fuel-dependent economy

Facing the rise in threats that the environment confronts, several studies were conducted regarding the possible sources of renewable energy in general and biomass energy in particular. This study raises the question of the role that biomass energy can play to reduce ecological footprint in a country rich in fossil fuel energy and on which its economy is largely dependent. The results of the NARDL method applied to the case of Saudi Arabia during the period 1984-2017 showed that the positive change in biomass energy consumption reduces the ecological footprint both in the short and long term. For a country dependent on fossil fuel energy as Saudi Arabia, fossil fuel energy and natural resource rents exert negative effects of the ecological footprint in the short term since they provide the necessary funds to finance green projects. However, natural resources rents and positive changes in fossil fuel energy consumption significantly increase ecological footprints in the long term. Urbanization has negative effects on ecological footprint both in the short and long term. The effects of GDP and GDP square on environmental degradation are negative and positive, respectively. However, the effects of these two variables on the ecological footprint are reversed in the long run. For a fossil fuel energy-dependent economy as Saudi Arabia, the biomass energy and the demographic dimension linked to urbanization are important levers for the transition to sustainable development, both in the short and in the long term.

A systems engineering framework for the optimization of food supply chains under circular economy considerations

The current linear "take-make-waste-extractive" model leads to the depletion of natural resources and environmental degradation. Circular Economy (CE) aims to address these impacts by building supply chains that are restorative, regenerative, and environmentally benign. This can be achieved through the re-utilization of products and materials, the extensive usage of renewable energy sources, and ultimately by closing any open material loops. Such a transition towards environmental, economic and social advancements requires analytical tools for quantitative evaluation of the alternative pathways. Here, we present a novel CE system engineering framework and decision-making tool for the modeling and optimization of food supply chains. First, the alternative pathways for the production of the desired product and the valorization of wastes and by-products are identified. Then, a Resource-Task-Network representation that captures all these pathways is utilized, based on which a mixed-integer linear programming model is developed. This approach allows the holistic modeling and optimization of the entire food supply chain, taking into account any of its special characteristics, potential constraints as well as different objectives. Considering that typically CE introduces multiple, often conflicting objectives, we deploy here a multi-objective optimization strategy for trade-off analysis. A representative case study for the supply chain of coffee is discussed, illustrating the steps and the applicability of the framework. Single and multi-objective optimization formulations under five different coffee-product demand scenarios are presented. The production of instant coffee as the only final product is shown to be the least energy and environmental efficient scenario. On the contrary, the production solely of whole beans sets a hypothetical upper bound on the optimal energy and environmental utilization. In both problems presented, the amount of energy generated is significant due to the utilization of waste generated for the production of excess energy.

Role of foreign direct investment interaction to energy consumption and institutional governance in sustainable GHG emission reduction

The theme of the environmental upgrades and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations is "Better Environment, Better tomorrow." This study uses regulatory quality (RgQ) and energy consumption per capita (EC) as explanatory variables and foreign direct investment (FDI) as an integrating variable with RgQ and EC and examines their impacts on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2001 to 2018 in panel Asian economies. The findings indicate that EC negatively impacts GHG emissions, while RgQ positively promotes the reduction of GHG emissions in Asia. In addition, FDI has an integrating role, as sufficient FDI inflows significantly enhance clean energy use and EC efficiency. Such inflows also support and improve Asia's regulation quality by upgrading standardization investments and technology deployment to enhance institutional quality and achieve SDGs. FDI inflows have thus been vital in environment upgrading in Asia and regional sustainable environmental development.

Striving towards environmental sustainability: how natural resources, human capital, financial development, and economic growth interact with ecological footprint in China

On the economic side, China has attained rapid development; yet, the ecological aspects pose threats to its sustainable development. The nexus between economic growth, natural resources, human capital, and financial development has an important inference for the environment, and therefore, this endeavor examines the influence of said variables on the ecological footprint in China via adopting the novel dynamic simulated ARDL approach by utilizing the data from 1985 to 2018. The outcomes of the analysis confirm that natural resources and financial development have a considerable positive short- and long-run relation with the ecological footprint. Besides, this depicts that natural resources and financial development lead to an upsurge in ecological footprint in China. Furthermore, human capital also upsurges the negative influence on the environment. Economic growth also upsurges the ecological footprint; however, the outcomes also yielded an interesting insight lending credence to the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve in China. So, it is important to offer awareness sessions to the community as well as to human resources working in different sectors regarding the significance of sustainability by giving training related to the reduction of the excessive consumption of scarce resources. Moreover, a watchful deliberation must be given while implementing strategies about sustainability concerning the specified factors and their potential impact on ecological footprints so that the targets of Sustainable Development Goals 7, 8, and 13 could be accomplished by the Chinese economy.

The link between urbanization and air pollution in Turkey: evidence from dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulations

This study investigates the relationship between urbanization and air pollution in Turkey. Dynamic ARDL method was used for the period 1960-2015. According to the findings, there is a positive and statistically significant relationship between long-term urbanization and CO₂. If urbanization increased by 1%, carbon emissions increased by 0.02%. There is a similar relationship between the shocks that will occur in population growth and CO₂ emission in the long term. However, there is a negative and statistically insignificant relationship between the two variables. In the relationship between GDP and CO₂, there is a positive relationship in the long term. GDP increase of 1% increases CO₂ emissions by 0.11%. There is a similar relationship between long-term GDP shocks and CO₂ emissions. According to short-term analysis results, energy consumption increases CO₂ emissions by the same rate as GDP. However, the astonishing result of the study emerges here. Empirical results show that a long-term positive shock in energy consumption reduces CO₂ emissions and a negative shock increases pollution. According to these results, Turkey has not reached the point of sustainable growth. For this reason, this developing country needs to make regulatory implementations and determine future policies for these impacts affecting air pollution.

Do economic openness and electricity consumption matter for environmental deterioration: silver bullet or a stake?

Developing countries are enthusiastically on the road to economic progress and economic openness, which is proved to be a silver bullet for them. However, it has put their environmental quality at stake. This study examines whether economic openness and electricity consumption matter for environmental deterioration by controlling for the influence of economic progress. For this, we have used time series frequency data of Pakistan from 1971 to 2016 and employed the state-of-the-art dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulation model. The model has the advantage over traditional ARDL in determining the positive and negative environmental deterioration variations induced by economic openness, electricity consumption, and economic progress. The main findings are as follows: Firstly, electricity consumption in both long and short run positively and significantly influenced CO₂ emissions, while long-run influence exceeded that of short run. Secondly, economic progress validated an environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and thus limited the environmental degradation. Thirdly, economic openness showed an insignificant influence on CO₂ emissions both in the long and short run. Based on research findings, it is suggested that economic progress and economic openness are not the direct culprits to deteriorate a developing country's environmental condition like Pakistan; rather, electricity consumption remained the key role player. Therefore, the transition from fossil-based electricity consumption to renewable energy consumption would provide a sustainable pathway towards achieving sustainable economic openness in the future.

Agozie D, A. Bein M, Bekun FV, Fatai Adedoyin F. Unlocking the investment impact of biomass energy utilization on environmental degradation for an isolated island

Purpose

Discussions on environment-friendly production connected with the concerns of growing biomass emissions have gained much attention. In this regard, this study aims to explore the issue of biomass energy consumption and its related emission effects on the economic and environmental well-being of the economy of Cyprus.

Design/methodology/approach

This study sources time series data on specific variables from the Global Material Flow and the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI, 2020) between 1990 and 2016. The Robust least square (ROB-L2) in conjunction with Pesaran autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) methodology analysis techniques was used in addition to the Granger causality tests to examine the direction of causality flow between the variables under consideration.

Findings

The results indicate that biomass energy usage in the long run reduces pollution and negatively correlates with CO2 emissions level. Also, the decline of emission is influenced by increased foreign direct investment (FDI), thus, activities of foreign investors contribute to combating emission in the country. According to empirical results, non-renewable energy consumption showed both positive and negative influences on increased emission level, whereas economic growth is increasing carbon dioxide emission for the case of Cyprus.

Originality/value

This study applies current reliable data that offers renewed insights and sheds light on the state of affairs on biomass utilization from a developing country perspective. Additionally, it extends the discourse on the impact of biomass utilization on CO2 emissions by considering the impact of FDI, trade flow and energy consumption in a carbon-income function built on the liner version of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Although this is by no means exhaustive, the study pioneers the discourse on how FDI with biomass utilization among other relevant variables influences carbon dioxide emission.

Valorization of Vine Tendrils Resulted from Pruning as Densified Solid Biomass Fuel (Briquettes)

Concerns over the past few decades have focused, more than ever, on finding and implementing efficient, handy, and renewable sources to reduce pollution. Biomass, in general, and biomass from annual vine cuttings, are renewable sources that can be used by a large amount of the population. Biomass densification in the form of briquettes is an efficient method of obtaining a biofuel with the same characteristics as wood. The production of densified material as a briquette consists of sampling, drying naturally, chopping, grinding and briquetting the vine cuttings. The obtained results showed that the size of the briquettes met the requirements imposed by the standard, with a length between 185 mm and 400 mm and a diameter of 58 ± 0.75 mm, the humidity of the briquettes varying between 5.42%, at Sauvignon Blanc and 7.98% for Pinot Noir, while the durability of the briquettes registered minimum values of 98.17% for Muscat Ottonel and a maximum of 99.14% for Feteasca Neagra, and a unit density with values between 1227 kg/m3 for Feteasca Alba and 1389 kg/m3 for Pinot Noir. The conclusions of these experiments are promising, showing that the densification of biomass from vines cuttings qualifies within the standard requirements for obtaining a valuable biofuel.

The role of economic policy uncertainty in the energy-environment nexus for China: Evidence from the novel dynamic simulations method

Even though a great number of researches have explored the determinants of carbon emissions, the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on the environment has not been fully investigated in the energy-environment literature. Since recent studies show a strong relationship between the external environment and uncertainty, the present study for the first time in the literature aims to explore the function of EPU in the energy-environment nexus for China by using the novel bounds testing with dynamic simulations. The empirical results indicate that increases in the real income and energy intensity contribute to environmental pollution while increases in renewable energy lower the level of emissions. Besides, an increase in EPU causes an increase in the volume of carbon emissions. As EPU increases, the government's attention to implement environmental protection policies decreases, and the execution of the environment-related strategies is likely directed in an expected way. The empirical findings suggest that the government should establish consistency in economic and environmental policies to mitigate environmental pollution and thus to reach environmental sustainability.

Positioning Bio-Based Energy Systems in a Hypercomplex Decision Space—A Case Study

The optimization of the energy portfolio for a small, open, landlocked economy with rather limited fossil resources is a complex task because it must find a long-range, sustainable balance between the various goals of society under the constant pressure of different interest groups. The opinions of independent, informed experts could be an essential input in the decision-making process. The goal of this research was to determine the relative importance of the values and goals potentially accompanying projects, based on the utilization of bioenergy. The current research is based on a wide-ranging survey of 65 non-partisan experts, applying the Pareto analytic hierarchy process to ensure the unbiased prioritization of project segments. The results of the survey put a spotlight on the importance of the economic role of bioenergy projects. Contrary to previous expectations and considerations, the social functions of these projects have hitherto been given relatively little importance. The results highlight the importance of bioenergy in increasing the income-generating capacity of agricultural producers by optimal utilization of natural resources for agricultural production. This can be achieved without considerable deterioration of the natural environment. Modern agricultural production is characterized by high levels of mechanization and automatization. Under these conditions, the social role of bioenergy projects (job creation) is rather limited.

Renewable-nonrenewable energy: institutional quality and environment nexus in South Asian countries

Today energy has become a fundamental need; without energy consumption, no country can survive economically. Along with developed economies, developing countries are struggling more to achieve sustainable economic growth. Therefore, different strategies are being made to develop renewable energy for economic gains. In this line, this study attempts to investigate the impacts of nonrenewable and renewable energy and other socioeconomic factors on CO2 emissions in South Asian countries. The annual data was converted into quarterly data of 1996Q1-2019Q4. The unit root test with structural breaks confirmed mix order of integration and further ARDL approach was applied to know the long- and short-run associations. The long-run association shows that economic growth in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka is not sustainable. Nepal is achieving economic growth with reducing CO2 emissions. In India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, institutional quality can play an important role to achieve cleaner production. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, population growth is also lowering CO2 emissions. In India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, nonrenewable energy usage is contributing to environmental pollution and renewable energy is lowering it. These countries need to enhance the ratio of renewable energy to their industrial production units.

Do energy use and economic policy uncertainty affect CO2 emissions in China? Empirical evidence from the dynamic ARDL simulation approach

Global warming is currently the biggest problem. China is the world's highest CO2 emitter. The Chinese authorities agreed to overcome global pollution per the current Paris treaty and have shown deep concern regarding global warming. Hence, policymakers are paying attention to economic policy uncertainty. Motivated by this issue, the study examines the effect of energy use, economic policy uncertainty, and economic growth on China's CO2 emissions from 1970 to 2018 by employing a novel dynamic ARDL simulation model. The findings show that energy use and economic growth have statistically substantial long-run and short-run positive effects on CO2 emissions. However, economic policy uncertainty has a statistically insignificant effect on CO2 emissions, due to firms' sustainability policies. Energy use can have valuable policy consequences, particularly for environmental sustainability. Therefore, based on the empirical findings, the crucial partnership and feedback on China's carbon emission policy should be carried forward.

Towards achieving environmental sustainability: environmental quality versus economic growth in a developing economy on ecological footprint via dynamic simulations of ARDL

Studies have shown that factors like trade, urbanization, and economic growth may increase the ecological footprint (EFP) since ecological distortions are mainly human-induced. Therefore, this study explores the effect of economic growth and urbanization on the EFP, accounting for foreign direct investment and trade in Nigeria, using data from 1977 to 2016. This study used the EFP variable as against the CO₂ emissions used in the previous studies since the former is a more comprehensive and extensive measure of environmental quality. We apply the novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulations for model estimation, the Bayer and Hanck J Time Ser Anal 34: 83-95, (2013) combined cointegration, and the ARDL bounds test for cointegration. Although the results affirmed the presence of long-run relationship among the variables, economic growth deteriorates the environment in the short run, while urbanization exacts no harmful impact. In the long run, FDI and trade deteriorate the environment while economic growth adds to environmental quality. It is recommended that policymakers strengthen the existing environmental regulations to curtail harmful trade and provide rural infrastructures to abate urban anomaly.