The cyclical impact of green and sustainable technology research on carbon dioxide emissions in BRICS economies

Recent advances in green technology and Industrial Revolution 4.0 for a sustainable future

This review gives concise information on green technology (GT) and Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0). Climate change has begun showing its impacts on the environment, and the change is real. The devastating COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected lives and the world from the deadly consequences at a social, economic, and environmental level. In order to balance this crisis, there is a need to transition toward green, sustainable forms of living and practices. We need green innovative technologies (GTI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to develop green, durable, biodegradable, and eco-friendly products for a sustainable future. GTI encompasses all innovations that contribute to developing significant products, services, or processes that lower environmental harm, impact, and worsening while augmenting natural resource utilization. Sensors are typically used in IoT environmental monitoring applications to aid ecological safety by nursing air or water quality, atmospheric or soil conditions, and even monitoring species' movements and habitats. The industries and the governments are working together, have come up with solutions-the Green New Deal, carbon pricing, use of bio-based products as biopesticides, in biopharmaceuticals, green building materials, bio-based membrane filters for removing pollutants, bioenergy, biofuels and are essential for the green recovery of world economies. Environmental biotechnology, Green Chemical Engineering, more bio-based materials to separate pollutants, and product engineering of advanced materials and environmental economies are discussed here to pave the way toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN and achieve the much-needed IR 4.0 for a greener-balanced environment and a sustainable future.

Political competition and environment quality: a study of India

The focus of sustainable development goals (SDGs) is to promote the use of renewable energy so that countries can achieve better environmental quality. However, the progression is plodding, and still, 80% of energy comes mainly from conventional sources in developing countries. The implementation of procedures depends on the political attitudes, political stability, and quality of institutions. India has a diverse political structure ranging from central government to state government to local governments. In the late '80 s, India witnessed a stiff rise in regional and national political parties, which leads more political competition. This paper tries to explain the possible relationship between political competition and CO2 emission in India. With the application of the time series non-linear ARDL (NARDL) model, this study tries to find the asymmetric relationship between political competition and CO2 emission. In our empirical model, we also include other important elements of environmental quality like innovation and fossil fuel consumption. Empirical results show that political competition is asymmetrically related to CO2 emissions in the long run. Fossil fuel consumption and innovation also have a significant relationship with emissions. Based on the results, a few policy recommendations have been discussed.

The role of global collaboration in environmental technology development, natural resources, and marine energy generation technologies toward carbon neutrality in knowledge-based economies

This study aims to explore the influence of renewable energy consumption (REC), global collaboration in environmental technology development (GCETD), gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC), marine energy generation technologies (MGT), trade openness (TDOT), natural resources (NRs), and carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂e) in 34 selected knowledge-based economies from 1990 to 2020. The results show that MGT and REC, an environmentally friendly source of energy, are positively connected with zero carbon emissions, reflecting the ability to serve as an alternative energy option for a sustainable environment. In addition, the study reveals that NRS, such as the accessibility of hydrocarbon resources, can have a positive effect on CO₂e, implying that the unsustainable use of NRs may lead to the expansion of CO₂e. Additionally, the study pinpoints that GDPPC and TDOT, as a gauge of economic expansion, play an essential part in a carbon-neutral future, suggesting that greater amounts of commercial success could result in greater ecological sustainability. The results also show that GCETD is linked to lower CO₂e. This means that working together on an international level helps to improve environmental technologies and slow down the effects of global warming. It is suggested that governments should focus on and encourages GCETD, the use of REC, and TDOT to speed up the path toward zero emissions. Also, decision-makers should think about backing research and development investments in MGT as a potential way to reach zero CO₂e in a knowledge-based economies.

Does cyclical innovation in environmental-related technologies make knowledge-based economies carbon neutral?

The knowledge-based economies have reacted by enacting stringent legislation and encouraging innovation in environmental-related technologies (IERTs) across organizations, such as academic institutions. Although previous research continues to support green innovation as a pro-cyclical concept, the irregular effect of IERT dynamics on CO₂e in knowledge-based economies has not yet been studied. The paper looks at the cyclical nexus between IERT and CO₂e in 37 knowledge-based economies using panel data from 1990 to 2019. The augmented mean group supported that an adverse change in IERT contributes to CO₂e during economic downturns. Second, the findings confirmed that positive dynamics in IERT reduces CO₂e during economic expansions. Third, the findings signified that trade openness, expansionary commercial policy, gross domestic product per capita, and expansionary monetary policy all increase CO₂e, while contractionary commercial policy and use of renewable energy all decrease CO₂e. Overall, the results of this study showed that there is a counter-cyclical association between IERT and CO₂e. It is suggested that to reduce CO₂e in knowledge-based economies, the government should support IERT in both economic contraction and expansion periods.

Endorsing sustainable development in BRICS: The role of technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, and natural resources in limiting carbon emission

This research aimed to examine the complex interaction between technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, natural resources, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of BRICS (i.e., Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries from 1990 to 2019, to accomplish the Paris Climate Conference (COP-21) objective of reducing CO₂ emissions to promote environmental sustainability. The long-run empirical estimations derived from the CS-ARDL technique, which considered other estimation issues like cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity, indicated that technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, and natural resources increase environmental sustainability by limiting CO₂ emissions, in the short-run and long-run. The technological innovation-related activities have a CO₂ mitigating effect as shown by the negative coefficients which ranges between -0.05 and -0.14. This shows that they increase environmental sustainability and aid in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13. Similarly, renewable energy and natural resources decrease CO₂ emissions as shown by the coefficient of renewable energy (-0.31 to -0.81) and natural resources (-0.01 to 0.95); thereby increasing ecological quality by limiting CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, the interaction of technological innovation with natural resource rent and renewable energy consumption also aids in mitigating CO₂ emissions and increases environmental health. Finally, panel causality analysis revealed a significant causality from all explanatory variables to CO₂ emissions. Based on the results, significant policy suggestions are provided, such as improving energy effectiveness, investing in energy technologies, and increasing renewable energy consumption to stimulate technological innovation to achieve the target of a net-zero‑carbon economy.

Spatial impact mechanism of Chinese technology diffusion on CO2 emissions in the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative

International climate and green technology cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) have attracted significant attention, which led to several studies exploring B&R carbon emissions from the perspective of driving factors. While existing studies fail to consider the diversification of China's technology spillovers, the stochastic impacts by the STIRPAT and GWTR models are integrated in this study to determine the spatial impacts of three types of international technology spillovers (i.e., foreign direct investment (FDI), imports, and migrants) on the carbon emissions of B&R countries through independent innovations and technology following during 2003-2018. China's FDI and migration technology spillovers will increase B&R countries' CO₂ emissions through independent R&D and technology following, while imported technology spillovers will decrease B&R countries' carbon emissions through the same means. Therefore, this study shows that China's three technology spillovers show spatial differences in the CO₂ emissions of B&R countries. In short, government departments should formulate low-carbon technology policies according to the technology impact path and regional characteristics.

Does innovation in ocean energy generations-related technologies in G7 countries reduce carbon dioxide emissions? Role of international collaboration in green technology development and commercial and monetary policies

Recognizing that innovation in renewable energy generation is an effective way to improve sustainable energy generation, the government and industries in the G7 states have invested heavily in the development of novel green technologies related to ocean energy generation. Irrespective of this, the existing literature has failed to explore the nexus between innovation in innovation in ocean generation-related technologies (IOEGT) and carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂e). This paper contributes to the environmental economics by looking at the linkage between IOEGT and CO₂e, with the international collaboration in green technology development (ICGTD), gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC), expansionary monetary policy (EMP), expansionary commercial policy (ECM), contractionary monetary policy (CMP), renewable energy consumption (REC), and contractionary commercial policy (ECM) in the G7 states from 1990 to 2020. The Westerlund and Edgerton (2008) test validated the long-run association among IOEGT, EMP, ECM, ICGTD, CMP, REC, ECM, GDPPC, and CO₂e. The cross-sectional-autoregressive-distributed lag estimators found the following main findings. First, IOEGT is a helpful tool for reducing CO₂e. Second, ICGTD and REC were associated with a lower level of CO₂e. Third, EMP and ECP contribute to an increase in carbon emissions. However, CCP and CMP are essential to the long-term reduction of CO₂e. Fourthly, GDPPC exacerbates the negative effects of CO₂e.

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.

Toward next-generation green solar cells and environmental sustainability: impact of innovation in photovoltaic energy generation, distribution, or transmission-related technologies on environmental sustainability in the United States

Photovoltaic is emerging as a cost-competitive source of energy generation and has experienced a decade of substantial cost decline. Recognizing that innovation in sustainable technologies can substantially contribute to the sustainable generation of energy, the federal government, universities, and industries in the USA have invested considerably in innovative solar technologies involving photovoltaic energy generation. However, the association between innovations in photovoltaic energy generation, distribution, or transmission-related technologies (IPVEGRT) and carbon dioxide emissions is unclear. The present study significantly contributes to energy economics by inspecting the nexus between IPVEGRT and carbon dioxide emissions, renewable energy consumption, the expansionary monetary policy, international collaboration in green technology development, gross domestic product per capita, and trade openness in the USA from 1990Q1 to 2018Q4. The results indicate that IPVEGRT helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions. International collaboration in green technology development and renewable energy consumption was negatively associated with carbon dioxide emissions, while expansionary monetary policy, gross domestic product per capita, and trade openness were positively associated with carbon dioxide emissions. The two-way causality between IPVEGRT and carbon dioxide emissions and between international collaboration in green technology development and carbon dioxide emissions was validated. Finally, a one-way causality between expansionary monetary policy, carbon dioxide emissions, gross domestic product per capita, and carbon dioxide emissions was validated.

Analysis on the Nonlinear Impact of Financial Risks on CO2 Emissions: Designing a Sustainable Development Goal Framework for Asian Economies

For the purpose of coping with or eliminating the influence of carbon dioxide emissions effectively, it is crucial to apply the green investment models to carry out a qualitative analysis of carbon dioxide emission evolution. The effect of financial risks on the implementation of the carbon dioxide emission limit is essential for the distribution of resources, and it is necessary to summarize the patterns and make innovations in the process of limiting the emissions of carbon dioxide effectively. In the case of fully complying with the principles of low-carbon economic development and related policy protection, the appropriate model for low-carbon economic development is identified. In this article, the multivariate primary nonlinear model is applied to the analysis of the nonlinear influence of financial risks on carbon dioxide emissions to cope with the problem of financial risks on carbon dioxide emissions at present. In this method, a multivariate primary nonlinear model is established based on the detailed analysis of the financial development features, and the parameters are optimized mainly from various aspects such as the structure of the model, the features of data, and the dynamic changes of the model so as to obtain the optimal values for the parameters of the constructed multivariate primary nonlinear model. The results of the practical case analysis indicate that the influence of financial risks on the limits of domestic carbon dioxide emissions is differentiated in accordance with the results and related categories. Only in this way can the regional division of carbon emission factors be properly classified. The relationship between economic growth and carbon emission increase and changes indicates that effective strategies for carbon emission reduction should be adopted. The established panel data model is used to carry out an in-depth analysis of the influence of carbon dioxide limitations in Asian countries.

Analysis of the Impact of Ecological Innovation and Green Investment on China’s CO2 Emissions

In order to effectively address or eliminate the impact of CO2 emissions, it is crucial to conduct a CO2 emissions evolution analysis using a green investment model. Ecological innovation helps to limit carbon dioxide emissions, which is crucial to resource distribution and effectively summarizes the regularity and innovation of the process of limiting carbon dioxide emissions. Under the condition of fully grasping the principles of low-carbon city development and related policy protection, find a suitable low-carbon city development model. This paper analyzes the impact of ecological innovation and green investment on carbon dioxide emission limitations by building a data analysis model. The results of the case analysis show that the impact of the green investment scale on Chinese carbon dioxide emission restrictions is an inverted U-shaped relationship. The scale of green investment, economic competition, and marketization of capital allocation has a negative impact on Chinese carbon dioxide emissions, while green investment and ecological innovation have a positive effect on the green and low-carbon development of the Chinese economy.

Solar energy technology adoption and diffusion by micro, small, and medium enterprises: sustainable energy for climate change mitigation

This research intends to identify influential factors in adopting and diffusing solar energy technology (SET) by micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in two tehsils of Multan district in Pakistan's Punjab province. To this end, the influential factors are identified through studying literature surveys and conducting questionnaires. Following that, partial least squares-based path modeling is employed. The results showed that (1) enterprises' size, perceived SET's ease of use, and perceived SET's reliability are the top three driving factors. (2) The perceived SET's price, perceived level of competition's pressure, and MSME's energy cost intensity are the barriers to the adoption and diffusion of SET, while the lack of technical knowledge about SET is a neutral factor. (3) Perceived SET's price, MSMEs' energy cost intensity, and enterprises' size are among the most important factors based on the effect size and path coefficients, while the lack of technical knowledge about SET, preferences of MSMEs' customers, and eco-labels and green stickers have lower importance. Since the adoption of SET is a rational decision that is concretely dependent on economic incentives, it is recommended to lower the price of SET to scale up the adoption and diffusion of SET by Pakistani MSMEs.

Environmental Regulations, Green Technology Innovation, and High-Quality Economic Development in China: Application of Mediation and Threshold Effects

In this article, we consider sample data from 30 regions in China from 2004 to 2020. We use the entropy method to measure the high-quality development level, then examine the intermediary and threshold effects to verify the main paths by which green technology innovation mediates the relationship between environmental regulation intensity and the quality of economic development. Our conclusions are as follows: (1) There is a “U”-shaped relationship between environmental regulation intensity and high-quality economic development. When the environmental regulation intensity is low, there is a negative (inhibitory) relationship between the two, while there is a positive (promoting) relationship when the intensity is high. Furthermore, a high proportion of secondary industries inhibit high-quality development, perfect infrastructure and information access can promote high-quality development, and excessive population density hinders high-quality development. (2) There also exists a “U”-shaped relationship between environmental regulation intensity and green technology innovation, which forms a co-directional change relationship. Green technology innovation has a significant mediating effect on the impact of environmental regulation intensity on high-quality economic development. (3) The threshold effect test confirms the existence of double thresholds. When the green technology innovation level is not high, environmental regulations inhibit high-quality economic development. However, when green technology innovation reaches a certain level, environmental regulations will promote high-quality economic development. This paper has certain theoretical reference for achieving high-quality development goals; thus, our results are expected to provide theoretical support for China’s high-quality development.

Impact of innovation in renewable energy generation, transmission, or distribution-related technologies on carbon dioxide emission in the USA

Innovation in renewable energy generation, transmission, or distribution-related technologies (IREGT) is an effective way to deal with environmental pollution. Even though previous studies have focused on renewable energy generation in the USA, the impact of IREGT on carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂e) remains widely unexplored. Recognizing this gap, this study inspected the IREGT-CO₂e nexus in the USA, with international collaboration in green technology development (ICGTD), trade openness (TO), renewable energy consumption (REC), and gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC) as control variables from 1990Q1 to 2018Q4. The study applied the canonical cointegration regression (CCR), fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method, and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) approach to assess the long-run association among variables. First, the findings validated the cointegration relationship among IREGT, ICGTD, TO, REC, GDPPC, and CO₂e. Second, the results indicated that the IREGT, REC, and ICGTD had benefited the USA in mitigating CO₂e. Third, GDPPC and TO were positively connected to CO₂e. Fourth, the Granger causality depicted that GDPPC, TO, and ICGTD Granger caused CO₂e in the USA, while IREGT and CO₂e had a bidirectional relationship. The study's findings encourage the government should devise policies to induce higher research institutions and private enterprises to engage in IREGT.