Exploring the nonlinear relationship among financial development, human capital and CO2 emissions: a comparative study of South and East Asian emerging economies.

Despite worldwide commitments to reduce fossil fuel consumption in favour of alternative energies, several countries still rely on carbon-intensive sources to meet their energy demands. The previous studies show inconsistent results on the association between financial development and CO2 emissions. As a result, the impact of financial development, human capital, economic growth and energy efficiency on CO2 emission is evaluated here. Empirical research on a panel of 13 South and East Asian (SEA) nations between 1995 and 2021 using the CS-ARDL. Estimates from the empirical analysis considering energy efficiency, human capital, economic growth and overall energy use yield different findings. Financial development has a negative effect on CO2 emission, while economic growth positively impacts CO2 emission. The data also show that improving human capital and energy efficiency has a positive, though statistically insignificant, impact on CO2 emission. According to the causes and effects analysis, CO2 emission will be influenced by policies that aim to improve financial development, human capital, and energy efficiency, but not vice versa. Policy considerations that can be implemented in light of these findings and sustainable development goals can be accomplished by promoting financial resources and human capital.

Bioeconomy - A driver for regional development in the Nordic countries.

The bioeconomy is generally conceived as an economy based on land- and marine-based natural resources including eco-system services and biowaste. The dominant research has focused on the resource approach, i.e. the supply of different biomass products and services. Less emphasis has been put on the products and services stemming from the bioresources and the value differences these may have for individual entrepreneurs, for circular economy clusters or for municipalities and regions. This article is a first attempt for a more comprehensive assessment of regional economic and social impacts of the new bioeconomy in the Nordic countries. Combining employment statistics and empirical cases, we show how the new bioeconomy makes important contributions to more environmentally and socially sustainable economic growth, particularly in the rural areas of the Nordics. The data and cases show the importance of the regional and local levels in creating the new institutional structures for cooperation between firms and public authorities that pave the way for successful synergistic clusters. Such clusters allow for a reduction in waste streams and the replacement of fossil fuels and other inputs, while also creating significant local added value, local jobs and reducing climate emissions.

Energy carbon emission structure and reduction potential focused on the supply-side and demand-side.

In recent years, the environmental problems caused by excessive carbon emissions from energy sources have become increasingly serious, which not only aggravates the climate change caused by the greenhouse effect but also seriously restricts the sustainable development of Chinese economy. An attempt is made in this paper to use energy consumption method and input-output method to study the carbon emission structure of China's energy system and industry in 2015 from two perspectives, namely China's energy supply side and energy demand side, by taking into account the two factors of energy invest in gross capital formation and export. The results show that neglecting these two factors will lead to underestimation of intermediate use carbon emissions and overestimation of final use carbon emissions. On energy supply side, the carbon emission structure of China's energy system is still dominated by high-carbon energy (raw coal, coke, diesel, and fuel oil, etc.), accounting for more than 70% of total energy carbon emissions; on the contrary, the natural gas such as clean energy accounts for only 3.45% of total energy carbon emissions, indicating that the energy consumption structure optimization and emission reduction gap of China's energy supply side are still substantial. On energy demand side, the final use (direct consumption by residents and government) produces less carbon emissions, while the intermediate use (production by enterprises) produces more than 90% of the total energy carbon emissions. Fossil energy, power sector, heavy industry, chemical industry, and transportation belong to industries with larger carbon emissions and lower carbon emission efficiency, while agriculture, construction, light industry, and service belong to industries with fewer carbon emissions and higher carbon emission efficiency. This means that the optimization of industrial structure is conducive to slowing down the growth of energy carbon emissions on the demand side.

Near-real-time monitoring of global CO2 emissions reveals the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting human activities, and in turn energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Here we present daily estimates of country-level CO2 emissions for different sectors based on near-real-time activity data. The key result is an abrupt 8.8% decrease in global CO2 emissions (-1551 Mt CO2) in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The magnitude of this decrease is larger than during previous economic downturns or World War II. The timing of emissions decreases corresponds to lockdown measures in each country. By July 1st, the pandemic's effects on global emissions diminished as lockdown restrictions relaxed and some economic activities restarted, especially in China and several European countries, but substantial differences persist between countries, with continuing emission declines in the U.S. where coronavirus cases are still increasing substantially.

A sustainable solution for electricity crisis in Pakistan: opportunities, barriers, and policy implications for 100% renewable energy.

This study aims to explore the potential of renewable energy resources to attain a 100% renewable electricity system in Pakistan. Currently, most of the electricity supply comes from fossil fuel, which is imported because Pakistan lacks its own resources. The imports of fossil fuel cost a huge amount and therefore afflict the already fragile economy. Further, the policy to rely on fossil fuel has significantly failed to address the energy crisis that has been lingering for the past two decades, and an acute shortage of electricity hinders the progress of various sectors of the economy. In addition, the global climate index has listed Pakistan among the top 10 climate-vulnerable countries, which makes it pertinent for the country to take precautionary measures for climate change mitigation. Pakistan has abundant renewable energy resources, which are more than sufficient to meet 100% of the present and future electricity demands. On the basis of the existing literature and the dilemma of the energy crisis and climate vulnerability, this study argues that transition to a 100% renewable electricity system is not only an option but also an urgent requirement. Further, we list the potential barriers, in the context of Pakistan, and put forward the policy implications for a swift transition to an entirely renewable electricity system.

Committed emissions from existing energy infrastructure jeopardize 1.5 °C climate target.

Net anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) must approach zero by mid-century (2050) in order to stabilize the global mean temperature at the level targeted by international efforts1-5. Yet continued expansion of fossil-fuel-burning energy infrastructure implies already 'committed' future CO2 emissions6-13. Here we use detailed datasets of existing fossil-fuel energy infrastructure in 2018 to estimate regional and sectoral patterns of committed CO2 emissions, the sensitivity of such emissions to assumed operating lifetimes and schedules, and the economic value of the associated infrastructure. We estimate that, if operated as historically, existing infrastructure will cumulatively emit about 658 gigatonnes of CO2 (with a range of 226 to 1,479 gigatonnes CO2, depending on the lifetimes and utilization rates assumed). More than half of these emissions are predicted to come from the electricity sector; infrastructure in China, the USA and the 28 member states of the European Union represents approximately 41 per cent, 9 per cent and 7 per cent of the total, respectively. If built, proposed power plants (planned, permitted or under construction) would emit roughly an extra 188 (range 37-427) gigatonnes CO2. Committed emissions from existing and proposed energy infrastructure (about 846 gigatonnes CO2) thus represent more than the entire carbon budget that remains if mean warming is to be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C) with a probability of 66 to 50 per cent (420-580 gigatonnes CO2)5, and perhaps two-thirds of the remaining carbon budget if mean warming is to be limited to less than 2 °C (1,170-1,500 gigatonnes CO2)5. The remaining carbon budget estimates are varied and nuanced14,15, and depend on the climate target and the availability of large-scale negative emissions16. Nevertheless, our estimates suggest that little or no new CO2-emitting infrastructure can be commissioned, and that existing infrastructure may need to be retired early (or be retrofitted with carbon capture and storage technology) in order to meet the Paris Agreement climate goals17. Given the asset value per tonne of committed emissions, we suggest that the most cost-effective premature infrastructure retirements will be in the electricity and industry sectors, if non-emitting alternatives are available and affordable4,18.

The causal nexus between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth: New evidence from China, India and G7 countries using convergent cross mapping.

Understanding the causality between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth is helpful for policymakers to formulate energy, environmental and economic policies. For the first time, based on nonlinear dynamics, this paper employs multispatial convergent cross mapping (CCM) to revisit the energy-carbon-economy causation for China, India and the G7 countries using both aggregate data and per capita data. The findings indicate that there are significant differences between developing countries and developed countries. A bidirectional nexus between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth is found in China and India, but various causal relationships are identified in the G7 countries, including bidirectional, unidirectional and neutral nexus. The results confirm that the decoupling phenomenon is common in most G7 countries. By leveraging a variety of samples and a new approach, this study provides new evidence for policy authorities to formulate country-specific policies to obtain better environmental quality while achieving sustainable economic growth.

Economic feasibility and long-term sustainability criteria on the path to enable a transition from fossil fuels to biofuels.

Currently the production of liquid biofuels relies on plant biomass, which in turn depends on the photosynthetic conversion of light and CO2 into chemical energy. As a consequence, the process is renewable on a far shorter time-scale than its fossil counterpart, thus rendering a potential to reduce the environmental impact of the transportation sector. However, the global economy is not intensively pursuing this route, as current generation biofuel production does not meet two key criteria: (1) economic feasibility and (2) long-term sustainability. Herein, we argue that microalgal systems are valuable alternatives to consider, although it is currently technologically immature and therefore not possible to reach criterion 1, nor evaluate criterion 2. In this review we discuss the major limiting factors for this technology and highlight how further research efforts could be deployed to concretize an industrial reality.

Decomposition of Cameroon's CO2 emissions from 2007 to 2014: an extended Kaya identity.

To effectively combat global warming, an enormous reduction in CO2 emissions is required. Cameroon, which is currently the largest emitter of CO2 in the CEMAC subregion, has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 32% by 2035. However, previous studies in Cameroon have only addressed the relationship between economic growth, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions without estimating all causal relationships at the same time. Moreover, no study has yet decomposed this country's CO2 emissions to date. To fill these research gaps and further assess the determinants of these CO2 emissions, an extended Kaya identity and the Logarithm Mean Divisia Index (LMDI I) have been applied in this paper to identify, quantify, and explain the main drivers of Cameroon's CO2 emissions from 2007 to 2014. Seven effects were measured and the main findings show that carbon intensity and the emission factor increased by 0.57% and 107.50% respectively. Regarding contributions to the increase of CO2 emissions, the population effect was the most positive followed by the activity effect, whereas the energy intensity, the substitution of fossil fuels and the penetration of renewable energies have contributed to reduce the CO2 emission. To enable Cameroon to not only achieve the goals of its vision but also develop a low-carbon economy, this paper provides some proposed avenues that should be considered by policymakers.

Testing the EKC hypothesis for ten US states: an application of heterogeneous panel estimation method.

This study aims to test the EKC (Environmental Kuznets Curve) hypothesis for the ten states, having the highest levels of carbon dioxide emissions in the USA, through the independent variables of real GDP, population, and renewable energy and fossil energy consumptions. To this aim, the panel estimation method with cross-sectional dependence is applied to data from 1980 to 2015. The empirical findings of the study indicate that the EKC (inverted U-shaped) hypothesis is valid only for Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Ohio. Interestingly, the negative impacts of fossil energy consumption on CO2 emission levels in Texas are not detected statistically although this state is the leading oil-producing state. Furthermore, the positive impacts of renewable energy consumption in Florida, officially known as "Sunshine State", are considerably low when compared with the other states.