Does agricultural ecology cause environmental degradation? Empirical evidence from Bangladesh

Agricultural sector accelerates a nation's economic growth towards sustainable development. There exists a significant relationship between agriculture and the environment. Sustainable agricultural development ensures food quality and in tandem prevents natural calamities like drought. However, in order to fulfill the food demand of a growing population, poor law quality and untenable agriculture practices arise, which in turn lead to environmental degradation. The current study explores the relationship between the agro-economic atmosphere and CO2 emissions as a measure of environmental degradation in Bangladesh between the years of 1985 and 2017. To exhibit the long-run relationship of agricultural ecology and carbon dioxide emissions, three cointegrated equations- Fully-modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), Dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and Canonical cointegrated regression (CCR) were assessed. For cointegration, Bayer-Hanck cointegration was implied. In long-run estimates, it was found that livestock, rice area harvested, cereal production, and other crop production impeded environmental dilapidation. The Granger Causality Test enabled unidirectional causality towards burned biomass (crop residues), the agricultural economy, and carbon emissions. Therefore, this dimension's causality concluded that carbon dioxide emissions were caused by cereal production, other agricultural production, and agricultural land production. The overall findings of this study could potentially assist the Government of Bangladesh and the necessary authorities for implementing synchronized policies to help reduce environmental pollution and set an example for other developing nations like Bangladesh.

Nitrapyrin Addition Mitigated CO2 Emission from a Calcareous Soil Was Closely Associated with Its Effect on Decreasing Cellulolytic Fungal Community Diversity

Application of nitrification inhibitors (NIs) has been widely used to inhibit nitrification and reduce N₂O emissions. However, the impacts of NI addition on soil carbon transformation and carbon-degrading microbial communities have not been well explored. Here, a microcosm experiment was carried out, and four treatments were designed: (i) unfertilized control, (ii) urea alone, (iii) urea plus cattle manure, and (iv) urea plus cattle manure with nitrapyrin. The influence of nitrapyrin on soil CO₂ emissions, carbon-degrading extracellular enzyme activities, and the abundance and diversity of the cbhI community was investigated. Compared to the treatment of urea plus cattle manure, nitrapyrin significantly decreased cumulative CO₂ emissions by 51.8%. Moreover, cbhI community gene copies and their α-diversities (P < 0.05) were also significantly reduced by nitrapyrin application. A partial least squares path model showed that CO₂ emission was positively associated with cbhI community α-diversity but negatively associated with nitrapyrin addition. We conclude that the mitigation of soil CO₂ emissions by nitrapyrin can be ascribed to its effects on decreasing of cellulose-degrading gene community diversity. Our findings provide new insights into the side-effects of nitrapyrin on abating CO₂ emission.

Tracking the effect of climatic and non-climatic elements on rice production in Pakistan using the ARDL approach

The present study aims to investigate the effect of climatic and non-climatic factors on rice production by employing an annual time series data from the period of 1970 to 2018. The study employed an ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) approach, and the long-term equilibrium linkages between the variables have been discovered. Additionally, the study also used a regression model to determine the robustness for the authentication of results. The Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Canonical Cointegration Regression (CCR) methods, and the VECM (Vector Error Correction Model) technique confirmed the long-run causal relationships amid the variables. The empirical results further revealed that climatic factors including annual temperature negatively affect the rice crop production, while carbon dioxide emission positively influenced via long-run. Similarly, non-climatic factors like area under rice crop, fertilizer consumption, labor force, and water availability affect the rice production positively in the long-run analysis. Finally, the pairwise Granger causality test revealed that both climatic and non-climatic variables had a substantial impact on rice yield in Pakistan. Based on the study's findings, the government and policy makers should formulate alleviation polices to tackle with harsh effects of climate change and consistent adoption of measures to secure overall agricultural production including rice crop because it is a country stable food.

Convergence of energy carbon emission efficiency: evidence from manufacturing sub-sectors in China

With China's economy entering the stage of high-quality development, manufacturing energy carbon emission efficiency has become the focus of academic attention. It is of great significance to study the convergence of manufacturing energy carbon emission efficiency for realizing high-quality development of manufacturing in China. Based on the panel data of China's manufacturing sub-sectors, this paper measures and analyzes the evolution trend of manufacturing energy carbon emission and its efficiency. On this basis, this paper uses the coefficient of variation and convergence model to test the convergence of manufacturing energy carbon emission efficiency. The results show that China's manufacturing energy carbon emissions and its efficiency demonstrate an increasing trend. Coal was the main source of manufacturing energy carbon emissions. The manufacturing energy carbon emission efficiency does not have σ convergence, but has [Formula: see text] convergence, and its convergence has industry heterogeneity. The manufacturing energy carbon emission efficiency exits scale effect and technology effect, but not the effect of opening to the outside world and institutional effect, and its effect exists industry heterogeneity. By reducing carbon emissions, adopting differentiated policies, adjusting the industry scale, and enhancing the industry technology intensity, China's manufacturing can improve the energy carbon emission efficiency and promote high-quality economic development.

Carbon Mitigation Pathways of Urban Transportation under Cold Climatic Conditions

Climate heterogeneity has enormous impacts on CO₂ emissions of the transportation sector, especially in cold regions where the demand for in-car heating and anti-skid measures leads to high energy consumption, and the penetration rate of electric vehicles is low. It entails to propose targeted emission reduction measures in cold regions for peaking CO₂ emissions as soon as possible. This paper constructs an integrated long-range energy alternatives planning system (LEAP) model that incorporates multi-transportation modes and multi-energy types to predict the CO₂ emission trend of the urban transportation sector in a typical cold province of China. Five scenarios are set based on distinct level emission control for simulating the future trends during 2017–2050. The results indicate that the peak value is 704.7–742.1 thousand metric tons (TMT), and the peak time is 2023–2035. Energy-saving–low-carbon scenario (ELS) is the optimal scenario with the peak value of 716.6 TMT in 2028. Energy intensity plays a dominant role in increasing CO₂ emissions of the urban transportation sector. Under ELS, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by 68.66%, 6.56% and 1.38% through decreasing energy intensity, increasing the proportion of public transportation and reducing the proportion of fossil fuels, respectively. Simultaneously, this study provides practical reference for other cold regions to formulate CO₂ reduction roadmaps.

Collateral implications of carbon and metal pollution on carbon dioxide emission at land-water interface of the Ganga River

Atmospheric CO₂ source and sink is among the most debated issues that have puzzled climate change geochemist for decades. Here, we tested whether heavy metal pollutants in river sediments favor preservation of organic matter through shielding microbial degradation. We measured CO₂ emission and extracellular enzyme activities at land-water interface (LWI) of 7 sites along a 285 km main stem of the Ganga River and 60 locations up- and downstream of two contrasting point sources discharging urban (Assi drain; Asdr) and industrial (Ramnagar drain; Rmdr) wastewaters to the river. We found the lowest CO₂ flux at Rmdr mouth characterized by the highest concentrations of Cu, Cr, Zn, Pb, Ni, and Cd. The fluxes were relatively higher at locations up- and downstream Rmdr. Substrate induced respiration (SIR), protease, FDAase, and β-D-glucosidase all showed a similar trend, but phenol oxidase and alkaline phosphatase showed opposite trend at the main river stem and Asdr. Sites rich in terrestrially derived organic matter have high phenol oxidase activity with low CO₂ emission. The CO₂ emission in the main river stem showed curvilinear relationships with total heavy metals (∑THM; R² = 0.68; p < 0.001) and TOC (R² = 0.65; p < 0.001). The dynamic fit model of main stem data showed that the ∑THM above 337.4 µg g^-1 were able to significantly decrease the activities of protease, FDAase, and β-D-glucosidase. The study has implications for understanding C-cycling in human-impacted river sediments where metal pollution shields microbial degradation consequently carbon and nutrient release and merits attention towards river management decisions.

Effects of urbanization and nonrenewable energy on carbon emission in Africa

This study investigates the impact of urbanization and nonrenewable energy consumption on carbon emissions. The context of the analysis is 54 African Union countries from 1996 to 2019. For estimation, we use panel quantile regression (PQR) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS). Our regression results demonstrate that there is a positive correlation between urbanization and CO₂ emission. Further, our empirical results confirmed that nonrenewable energy consumption increases environmental pollution in African Union countries. The outcomes demonstrate the EKC hypothesis because at the initial stage of development, when economic growth increases, environmental pollution increases; after a threshold point, environmental pollution decreases as economic growth increases. It can find an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO₂ emission. The findings also show that urbanization should be planned; otherwise, it can lead to environmental degradation in the long run. Africa continent takes strict action and builds a blueprint for efficient and effective energy production and consumption. The only solution to achieve green growth in Africa is to shift from fossil fuel energy supply to renewable energy supply.

A blessing in disguise: new insights on the effect of COVID-19 on the carbon emission, climate change, and sustainable environment

COVID-19, declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a pandemic, has affected greenhouse gas emissions and contributed to the uncertainty of environmental activities. This study demonstrates the effect of lockdowns, the number of new confirmed cases, and the number of newly confirmed deaths due to COVID-19 on CO₂ emissions. The data series used are for the UK from 23 March 2020 to 31 December 2020 and for Spain from 14 March 2020 to 31 December 2020. This research adopted the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test for a stationarity check of the data series, the Johansen cointegration test for determining cointegration among variables, and the vector error correction model (VEC) Granger causality test for directional cause and effect between exogenous and endogenous variables. The VEC model shows a bidirectional relationship between CO₂ emissions and lockdown and a unidirectional relationship with newly confirmed cases and deaths for the UK. The results of Spain confirmed the unidirectional relationship of CO₂ emissions, lockdown, new confirmed cases, and deaths. The Granger causality test reconfirms the relationship of variables except for newly confirmed deaths for the UK and newly confirmed cases for Spain. Conclusively, the pandemic breakout reduced the emission of CO₂. The directional relation of variables supported the short-run relationship of CO₂ emissions with newly confirmed cases and deaths, while a long- and short-run relationship was shown with lockdown. The directional and relational behavior of lockdown potentially linked the CO₂ emissions with daily life activities.

Waste Originating from the Cleaning of Flue Gases from the Combustion of Industrial Wastes as a Lime Partial Replacement in Autoclaved Aerated Concrete

This paper aims to study the suitability of partial replacement of lime by waste originating from the cleaning of flue gases from the combustion of industrial wastes in the production of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC). The compressive strength, bulk density, pore structure, phase composition, and microstructure of hydration products of the AAC were analyzed. According to the results, the addition of the waste can effectively enhance the mechanical properties of AAC due to the differences in morphology of hydration product—1.1 nm tobermorite and related dense microstructure. The pore size distribution was significantly influenced by waste addition, which was one of the main reasons for the increase in thermal conductivity. The XRD and SEM results showed that foreign ions introduced with the wastes affect the synthesis of 1.1 nm tobermorite. Moreover, it was shown that waste containing a high content of CaO can be used as lime replacement, which allows reducing CO₂ emissions during the AAC production process.

Environmental Impact of Surgical Masks Consumption in Italy Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly changed the lifestyle of billions of people. Face masks became indispensable to protect from the contagion providing a significant environmental impact. The aim of this work is to propose possible solutions to decrease masks' impact on the environment. For this reason, different masks (surgical and fabric) were considered, and the CO2 emissions associated with the mask materials production were calculated. Carbon Footprint (CF) for each material composing the masks was evaluated through the database Ces Selector 2019. The software Qgis (version 2.18.20) allows us to elaborate the CO2 emissions maps for each Italian region. Finally, for surgical masks, which are often imported from abroad, the CF related to transport was considered. It results that fabric masks are a sustainable solution to prevent contagion. The total CO2 emission associated with the use of fabric masks from the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020) to December 2021 resulted in about 7 kton compared to 350 kton for surgical masks.

Integrating a Top-Gas Recycling and CO2 Electrolysis Process for H2-Rich Gas Injection and Reduce CO2 Emissions from an Ironmaking Blast Furnace

Introducing CO₂ electrochemical conversion technology to the iron-making blast furnace not only reduces CO₂ emissions, but also produces H₂ as a byproduct that can be used as an auxiliary reductant to further decrease carbon consumption and emissions. With adequate H₂ supply to the blast furnace, the injection of H₂ is limited because of the disadvantageous thermodynamic characteristics of the H₂ reduction reaction in the blast furnace. This paper presents thermodynamic analysis of H₂ behaviour at different stages with the thermal requirement consideration of an iron-making blast furnace. The effect of injecting CO₂ lean top gas and CO₂ conversion products H₂–CO gas through the raceway and/or shaft tuyeres are investigated under different operating conditions. H₂ utilisation efficiency and corresponding injection volume are studied by considering different reduction stages. The relationship between H₂ injection and coke rate is established. Injecting 7.9–10.9 m³/tHM of H₂ saved 1 kg/tHM coke rate, depending on injection position. Compared with the traditional blast furnace, injecting 80 m³/tHM of H₂ with a medium oxygen enrichment rate (9%) and integrating CO₂ capture and conversion reduces CO₂ emissions from 534 to 278 m³/tHM. However, increasing the hydrogen injection amount causes this iron-making process to consume more energy than a traditional blast furnace does.

Sustainable development and pollution: the effects of CO2 emission on population growth, food production, economic development, and energy consumption in Pakistan

Population growth has been a leading driver of global CO2 emissions over the last several decades. CO2 emission and greenhouse gas emissions are a key issue in the world that affects food production and also causes the climate change. The core purpose of this study was to inspect the influence of carbon dioxide emission to population growth, food production, economic growth, livestock and energy utilization in Pakistan. The STIRPAT (Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology) model with the extension of an ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) method was utilized to demonstrate the linkage amid variables. Outcomes during short-run investigation reveal that variables population growth, economic growth, rural population growth, livestock production uncovered a productive association with CO2 emission. Furthermore, via long-run population growth, economic growth, rural population growth, livestock production and energy utilization have positive interaction with CO2 emission, while the variables food production and urban population growth demonstrated an adverse influence to CO2 emission during long- and short-run interaction. Similarly, the error correction model exposed that population growth, economic progress, livestock and energy utilization have constructive interaction to CO2 emission, while the variables food production, urban and rural population growth exposed an adverse impact to CO2 emission. On the basis of this analysis, we will address the strategic consequences.

Does financial inclusion and education limit CO2 emissions in China? A new perspective

China is the second-largest economy in the world after the USA and the largest contributor of CO₂ emissions in the globe followed by the USA. In this study, we have included two factors that could affect the CO₂ emissions in China i.e. financial inclusion and education. Five different proxies of financial inclusion have been estimated through the ARDL technique and four of them have confirmed the favorable impact of financial inclusion on the environmental quality in China. Similarly, the role of education proved to be beneficial in reducing CO₂ emissions in China. Among the control variables, GDP and population also exerted a negative impact on CO₂ emissions, whereas, the research and development activities encourage carbon emissions. Our findings suggest that financial inclusion and education can play an important role in the fight against global warming. Funds should be transferred to those firms, businesses, and individuals who are involved in eco-innovations. Government should try to educate people on the environment and the harmful effects of global warming. Knowledge helps to build up technology that is more energy-efficient; hence, innovation through knowledge should be promoted to fortify the positive impacts of education on the eco-system.

Is there any convergence in the CO2 emission efficiency of airlines?

This paper examines the CO₂ emission efficiency of airlines in the years 2011 and 2018 by using the Atmosfair Airline Index. This index gives reliable results since it encompasses data from more than 100 airlines and considers important variables in the calculation of CO₂ emissions. Firstly, we investigate the regional differences and the effect of the share of government ownership in the CO₂ emission efficiency of airlines. These factors have not been taken into account in other studies by using such a comprehensive index. Secondly, by utilizing the Barro and Sala-i Martin model that is commonly used to examine the regional income convergence model in economics, we also check whether there is a convergence in the CO₂ emission efficiency of airlines or not. As a result, in terms of efficiency growth, we find that airlines in Europe are more successful compared to airlines from other regions. Furthermore, increases in the share of government ownership in airlines negatively affect the CO₂ emission efficiency in Asia, whereas it is insignificant in Europe and America. Moreover, there is no convergence in the CO₂ emission efficiency of airlines from all regions. This shows that low-efficient airlines are not catching up with high-efficient airlines. Lastly, we find that charter airlines are more efficient in terms of CO₂ emissions.

Forecasting carbon emissions due to electricity power generation in Bahrain

Global warming and climate change have become one of the most embarrassing and explosive problems/challenges all over the world, especially in third-world countries. It is due to a rapid increase in industrialization and urbanization process that has given the boost to the volume of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions. In this regard, carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered a significant driver of GHGs and is the major contributing factor for global warming. Considering the goal of mitigating environmental pollution, this research has applied multiple methods such as neural network time series nonlinear autoregressive, Gaussian Process Regression, and Holt's methods for forecasting CO2 emission. It attempts to forecast the CO2 emission of Bahrain. These methods are evaluated for performance. The neural network model has the root mean square errors (RMSE) of merely 0.206, while the Gaussian Process Regression Rational Quadratic (GPR-RQ) Model has RMSE of 1.0171, and Holt's method has RMSE of 1.4096. Therefore, it can be concluded that the neural network time series nonlinear autoregressive model has performed better for forecasting the CO2 emission in the case of Bahrain.

Measuring economic, social and environmental wellbeing of Asian economies

This study aims to address the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing issues simultaneously by measuring the carbon intensity of wellbeing (CIWB) of Asian economies employing Prais-Winsten and pooled OLS estimator. The measure of CIWB is made taking into account a ratio of the two indicators-CO₂ emissions per capita and life expectancy at birth. There is a paucity of studies that concentrate on human and social wellbeing indicators (i.e., water, sanitation, life expectancy) together applying the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Therefore, we have also investigated the EKC hypothesis as this theory hypothesizes the link involving human and environmental wellbeing and development. The findings utilizing the two econometric techniques indicate that in both the estimation models urban population access to an improved water source and total population access to improved water source has consistently negative and significant effects on CIWB. The fertility rate and prevalence of HIV pose no threat to CIWB. These findings demonstrate that social and human wellbeing indicators of the Asian economies are sustainable to this moment as they are lowering CIWB which is desirable. Contrary, GDP per capita, exports as a percent of GDP, and urban population have a significant and positive impact on CIWB which poses a challenge for the sustainability issue. We also have found the existence of the EKC hypothesis indicating environmental quality will increase past a turning point. The findings of the paper are well matched with the view of the "Economic and ecological modernization" theory and "human ecology" theory.

Using an asymmetrical technique to assess the impacts of CO2 emissions on agricultural fruits in Pakistan

Human activities such as deforestation and cultivation contribute to the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the environment. Methane is emitted by energy exploration, coal mining, natural gas spills, waste, and waste dumps. Methane generated by such greenhouse gases has significantly contributed to the climate change and global warming. However, the most significant contributor to climate change and global warming is the use of fossil fuels. These fuels contribute to ozone depletion and global warming by emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The current study key objective was to determine the CO₂ emission effect to key fruit production in Pakistan by taking time series annual data varies from 1970 to 2019. A non-linear autoregressive distributed lag model (NARDL) was employed to check the variables linkages. The consequences of short- and long-run estimates expose that the positive and adverse shocks of citrus fruit create expressively to upsurge the CO₂ emission. Similarly, the positive and negative shocks of mango fruit expose an adverse interaction to CO₂ emission. The positive shock of apple fruit has constructive but negative shock expose and adverse linkage to CO₂ emission. Further, banana fruit also exposes a negative but constructive via positive shock linkage to CO₂ emission. Moving towards the apricot fruit production that exposed a constructive linkage via positive and negative shocks to CO₂ emission. The almond fruit productivity via positive and negative shocks exposed an adverse relation to carbon dioxide emission. Grape fruit via positive shock shows a construct, but negative shock exposed an adverse association to carbon emission in Pakistan. Finally the guava fruit production exposed a construct linkage to CO₂ emission via positive and negative shocks. Since agricultural activities and CO₂ emissions are essential to resolving the pollution problem, a series of practicable steps must be taken by the Pakistani authorities to tackle this issue.

Tourism-induced pollution emission amidst energy mix: evidence from Nigeria

In recent years, there is concerted efforts to boost the tourism industry in Nigeria, and regulatory bodies were created for the tourism industry. This study is contributing to the ongoing debate on the tourism-energy-environment literature. Thus, we explore the linkage between tourism development, energy consumption, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission, and renewable energy consumption in Nigeria for the period of 1995-2016. The present study leverages on Bounds testing to cointegration in a carbon-income function environment while incorporating renewable energy consumption to the econometric framework. Subsequently, autoregressive distributed lag methodology alongside dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) is utilized for robustness of estimations. Empirical results give credence to the energy-induced emission hypothesis in Nigeria. This outcome is suggestive to policymakers as fossil fuel-based energy consumption deplete the quality of the environment. Similarly, the study also affirms the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) phenomenon. The emphasis on Nigerian growth trajectory (real income level) relative to her quality of environment via the channel of economic development and energy consumption from fossil-fuel source is indicated. On the other hand, renewable energy consumption in Nigeria shows significant ability to reduce emission level in Nigeria. This result is insightful, which implies that environmental quality is not threatened with an increase in tourist arrivals, hence tourism does not degrade the environment but is sustainable to the environment. Interesting and laudable for stakeholders' international tourism arrival did not deplete the quality of the environment. The plausible explanation is attributed to the scale of tourism in Nigeria which at the moment is still low or much more there is caution/awareness on ecotourism for sustainable environment.

Soil Water Capacity, Pore Size Distribution, and CO2 Emission in Different Soil Tillage Systems and Straw Retention

The long-term implementation of crop rotation and tillage has an impact on the soil environment through inputs and soil disturbance, which in turn has an impact on soil quality. Tillage has a long-term impact on the agroecosystems. Since 1999, a long-term field experiment has been carried out at the Experimental Station of Vytautas Magnus University. The aim of this experiment is to investigate the effects of long-term various-intensity tillage and straw retention systems on soil physical properties. The results were obtained in 2013 and 2019 (spring rape was growing). According to the latest edition of the International Soil Classification System, the soil in the experimental field was classified as Endocalcaric Stagnosol (Aric, Drainic, Ruptic, and Amphisiltic). The treatments were arranged using a split-plot design. In a two-factor field experiment, the straw was removed from one part of the experimental field, and the entire straw yield was chopped and spread at harvest in the other part of the field (Factor A). There were three different tillage systems as a subplot (conventional deep ploughing, cover cropping with following shallow termination, and no-tillage) (Factor B). There were four replications. The long-term application of reduced tillage significantly increased soil water retention and improved the pore structure and CO₂ emissions. Irrespective of the incorporation of straw, it was found that as the amount of water available to plants increases, CO₂ emissions from the soil increase to some extent and then start to decrease. Simplified tillage and no-tillage in uncultivated soil reduce CO₂ emissions by increasing the amount of water available to plants from 0.151 to 0.233 m³·m^-3.

Effect of Ornamental Stone Waste Incorporation on the Rheology, Hydration, Microstructure, and CO2 Emissions of Ordinary Portland Cement

The ornamental stone industry generates large amounts of waste thus creating environmental and human health hazards. Thus, pastes with 0–30 wt.% ornamental stone waste (OSW) incorporated into ordinary Portland cement (OPC) were produced and their rheological properties, hydration kinetics, and mechanical properties were evaluated. The CO₂ equivalent emissions related to the pastes production were estimated for each composition. The results showed that the paste with 10 wt.% of OSW exhibited similar yield stress compared to the plain OPC paste, while pastes with 20 and 30 wt.% displayed reduced yield stresses up to 15%. OSW slightly enhanced the hydration kinetics compared to plain OPC, increasing the main heat flow peak and 90-h cumulative heat values. The incorporation of OSW reduced the 1-, 3-, and 28-days compressive strength of the pastes. Water absorption results agreed with the 28 days compressive strength results, indicating that OSW increased the volume of permeable voids. Finally, OSW incorporation progressively reduced the CO₂ emission per m³ of OPC paste, reaching a 31% reduction for the highest 30 wt.% OSW content. Overall, incorporating up to 10 wt.% with OSW led to pastes with comparable fresh and hardened properties as comported to plain OPC paste.

Assessment of sustainability and uncertainties of oil markets: mediating determinants of energy use and CO2 emissions

The current paper investigates the sustainability growth problem in the USA and evaluating the co-integration relationship among all variables, including oil, carbon emission, and consumption of energy. We also determine the impacts of energy consumption on the USA economic growth, government spending, and trade openness. We used the co-integration and popular lag model (ARDL) to find the long-term and short-term relationships between all study variables. The empirical results show that (1) the crude oil prices increase and adverse impact on energy demand and government expenditure during the study periods, and CO₂ emission negatively affects USA economic growth. In addition, (2) the innovative accounting method (ICA) results, we used further research to research the causality between study variables. The empirical results propose that oil prices affect the country's economy responsible for more energy consumption, and the causal effect between consumption of energy and economic growth is not relevant. Wastage of energy allows the system to produce more CO₂ emissions. Model results find that the one-sided causal effects of economic growth and CO₂. We see during the analyses that (CO₂) emissions will negatively impact the country's economy. Therefore, country policymakers are expected to change fossil fuel energy to non-fossil fuel energy as an essential component of the USA's economic growth policies.

Circular Economy of Construction and Demolition Waste: A Literature Review on Lessons, Challenges, and Benefits

Conventionally, in a linear economy, C&D (Construction and Demolition) waste was considered as zero value materials, and, as a result of that, most C&D waste materials ended up in landfills. In recent years, with the increase in the awareness around sustainability and resource management, various countries have started to explore new models to minimize the use of limited resources which are currently overused, mismanaged, or quickly depleting. In this regard, the implementation of CE (Circular Economy) has emerged as a potential model to minimize the negative impact of C&D wastes on the environment. However, there are some challenges hindering a full transition to CE in the construction and demolition sectors. Therefore, this review paper aims to critically scrutinize different aspects of C&D waste and how CE can be integrated into construction projects. Reviewing of the literature revealed that the barriers in the implementation of CE in C&D waste sectors fall in five main domains, namely legal, technical, social, behavioral, and economic aspects. In this context, it was found that policy and governance, permits and specifications, technological limitation, quality and performance, knowledge and information, and, finally, the costs associated with the implementation of CE model at the early stage are the main barriers. In addition to these, from the contractors' perspective, C&D waste dismantling, segregation, and on-site sorting, transportation, and local recovery processes are the main challenges at the start point for small-scale companies. To address the abovementioned challenges, and also to minimize the ambiguity of resulting outcomes by implementing CE in C&D waste sectors, there is an urgent need to introduce a global framework and a practicable pathway to allow companies to implement such models, regardless of their scale and location. Additionally, in this paper, recommendations on the direction for areas of future studies for a reduction in the environmental impacts have been provided. To structure an effective model approach, the future direction should be more focused on dismantling practices, hazardous material handling, quality control on waste acceptance, and material recovery processes, as well as a incentivization mechanism to promote ecological, economic, and social benefits of the CE for C&D sectors.

Controlling environmental pollution: dynamic role of fiscal decentralization in CO2 emission in Asian economies

The "environment" has become one of the important and debatable topics of the world and policymakers identifying the new predictors of CO2 emissions. Therefore, some economies have been promoting fiscal decentralization to encourage environmental quality by granting more financial autonomy to provincial and sub-national governments. Therefore, this study evaluates the dynamic effect of fiscal decentralization on CO2 in selected nine Asian economies using a fresh dynamic panel ARDL model from 1984 to 2017. The empirical findings show that fiscal decentralization has asymmetric effects on CO2 emissions because a positive change in revenue and expenditure decentralization reduced CO2 emissions in Asia. Moreover, a negative change in expenditure decentralization has also enhanced CO2 emissions in the long run. Thus, clean environmental policies and recommendations can be revised and proposed based on nonlinear findings in the modern era.

A study on the effects of meteorological and climatic factors on the COVID-19 spread in Canada during 2020

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has infected more than three million people, with thousands of deaths and millions of people into quarantine. In this research, the authors focus on meteorological and climatic factors on the COVID-19 spread, the main parameters including daily new cases of COVID-19, carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Sulfur dioxide (SO2), PM2.5, Ozone (O3), average temperature, and humidity are examined to understand how different meteorological parameters affect the COVID-19 spread in Canada? The graphical quantitative analysis results indicate that CO2 emissions, air quality, temperature, and humidity have a direct negative relationship with COVID-19 infections. Quantile regression analysis revealed that air quality, Nitrogen, and Ozone significantly induce the COVID-19 spread across Canadian provinces. The findings of this study are contrary to the earlier studies, which argued that weather and climate change significantly increase COVID-19 infections. We suggested that meteorological and climatic factors might be critical to reducing the COVID-19 new cases in Canada based on the findings. This work's empirical conclusions can provide a guideline for future research and policymaking to stop the COVID-19 spread across Canadian provinces.

Enflamed CO2 emissions from cement production in Nepal

Cement industry is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, specifically carbon dioxide (CO₂). This paper presents the cement production and the CO₂ emissions from the cement industry in Nepal. We compute emissions for the process-related, combustion-related (fuel use), and electricity-related activities during the cement production. We used eight emission factors (EFs) for the process-related, two EFs for the combustion or fuel-related, and two for the electricity-related activities using the previous researches. We computed the emissions as a product of the activities and the EFs. The estimated CO₂ emission in 2019 from the cement production is 3.45 ± 0.50 million metric tons (mMt) for Nepal. In 2019, the emissions are 1.87 ± 0.16 mMt from the process-related, 1.52 ± 0.34 mMt from the combustion-related, and 0.062 ± 0.004 mMt from the electricity use activities during the cement production in Nepal. Cumulative CO₂ emission was 22.73 ± 3.82 mMt from 1987 to 2019. Per capita CO₂ emission is 0.12 mMt for Nepal in 2019. Nepal contributes about 0.06% CO₂ emission from cement production to the global CO₂ emission (2.08 Gt) from the cement industry. By evaluating per capita gross domestic product (GDP) (from 1987/1988 to 2019/2020) and the human development index (HDI) (from 1990 to 2019) with the cement production, the result shows that cement production increases significantly (p < 0.01) with an increase in the GDP and the HDI. We emphasize that the study's outputs are directly relevant to the country's emission inventory, mitigation planning, and developing a strategy for cleaner production.