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China still faces relatively serious energy poverty, and technological innovation is considered effective at alleviating this issue. This paper empirically investigates the impact of regional technological innovation on energy poverty based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2001 to 2020. This paper explores the effect of industrial structure distortion in the process of technological innovation on energy poverty. This paper conducts asymmetry analysis and investigates the heterogeneous impact of technological innovation on energy poverty in different areas. The research conclusions are as follows: (1) Regional technological innovation can effectively alleviate energy poverty. (2) Industrial structure distortion moderates the impact of technological innovation on energy poverty, and it weakens the effect of technological innovation in alleviating energy poverty, although the moderating effect is not significant in coal-producing regions. (3) The effect of technological innovation on alleviating energy poverty is more obvious in regions where energy poverty is prominent. (4) The role of technological innovation in alleviating energy poverty shows spatial heterogeneity, and this alleviation effect is more obvious in the western and non-coal producing regions. We also propose several policy implications for alleviating energy poverty. • Regional technological innovation can effectively alleviate energy poverty. • Industrial structure distortion moderates the impact of technological innovation on energy poverty. • Industrial structure distortion hinders the ability of technological innovation to alleviate energy poverty. • Technological innovation is more effective in alleviating energy poverty in regions where energy poverty is severe. • Technological innovation is more effective at alleviating energy poverty in the west and non-coal-producing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether renewable energy consumption is beneficial to reducing CO 2 emission intensity and carbon emissions in the context of the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" in China. To prove this conjecture, considering the spatial spillover effect of carbon dioxide, this paper adopts the spatial Dubin model for empirical analysis based on the panel data of China's 30 provinces over the period 2002–2019. This study explores the CO 2 intensity mitigation effect of China's renewable energy consumption and further investigates the mediation role of technological innovation, industrial structure upgrading and optimization, and energy efficiency in the nexus between renewable energy consumption and carbon intensity. The main findings present that: (1) China's carbon emission intensity is characterized by significant spatial correlation; (2) Renewable energy consumption can significantly reduce carbon intensity and per capita carbon emissions; (3) The mediation effect of renewable energy consumption in reducing carbon emission intensity is to promote technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading, as well as improve energy efficiency. Based on the conclusions, this paper offers several policy implications for governments to reduce CO 2 emission intensity. • The impact of renewable energy consumption on CO 2 emission intensity is explored. • Renewable energy consumption can reduce carbon emission intensity and per capita carbon emissions. • Renewable energy consumption reduces CO 2 intensity through the spatial mediation effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As population grows considerably in the world, the correlation between intensity of population in urban areas and energy intensity becomes an important issue in energy field. This paper aims at examining the effects of urbanization on energy intensity for 10 Asian countries by employing annual data from 1990 to 2014. The Asian countries are Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, respectively. To this end, the paper, first, follows cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity tests. Then, the paper conducts unit root and cointegration tests, cointegration analyses and causality analyses. Finally, the paper estimates the short run parameters as well as long-run parameters to capture the possible dynamic relationships among variables. This paper, thus, employs energy intensity as dependent variable and GDP per capita, the square of GDP per capita, urbanization, and ruralization as regressors within the relevant models and explores that there exists a long-run relationship of energy intensity with GDP per capita, the square of GDP per capita, urbanization, and ruralization in panel data. The paper, later, observes additional explanatory variables of export, renewable energy consumption and nonrenewable energy consumption, and, concludes that (i) the urbanization variable has significant influences on energy intensity in the short-run and long-run, (ii) despite the some differences in cross-sectional estimations, the Asian panel data, overall, yield negative impact of urbanization on energy intensity. The latter output indicates that the urbanization path increases the energy productivity in Asian panel models. Within this scope, the paper presents some policy proposals related to the reduction of energy intensity in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of effective energy policy interventions on reducing energy poverty in the emerging nations of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Existing literature lacks a detailed investigation into the connection between energy policy and sustainable energy development for addressing energy poverty. Consequently, this work explores the dynamics of energy policy interventions in alleviating energy poverty in 42 emerging economies in the APAC region by engaging enhanced econometric approaches and panel estimates covering the period of 2000–2019. Analyzing the accessibility of energy, clean cooking fuel and technologies, and energy consumption level, this paper investigates energy poverty from a macro standpoint considering energy policy interventions in APAC emerging nations. The results suggest that energy policies, comprising laws, regulations, and strategies, are negatively associated with energy poverty. Among these, well-planned, forward-looking strategies are more successful in alleviating energy poverty. The implications of this study provide a framework for formulating necessary energy policies to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG7, which focuses on affordable and clean energy for all. Role of Energy policies interventions on energy poverty. [Display omitted] • Effective energy policy intervention in alleviating energy poverty is evaluated. • Energy policies, comprising laws, regulations, and strategies, are negatively associated with energy poverty. • Well-planned strategies are more effective in eradicating energy poverty. • The right energy policies contribute to accomplishing SDG-7, which is affordable and clean energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether grid upgrading in China, centered on building trans -regional transmission lines, can promote a low-carbon transition in the power sector is controversial. Since there is no precedent to follow, various countries are interested in learning from China's experience. This paper adopts a two-way fixed effects model based on panel data for 30 Chinese provinces from 2007 to 2019 to reveal the nonlinear relationship between grid upgrading and renewable energy generation. The research finds that: (1) A U-shaped relationship exists between grid upgrading and renewable energy generation, which is robust to a series of robustness checks. (2) When the ratio of transmission lines over Extra High Voltage (EHV) exceeds 0.152, grid upgrading has a scale effect in promoting renewable energy generation to achieve a low-carbon transition in the power sector. (3) Building the EHV grid has made a significant contribution to renewable energy generation, particularly in resource-intensive areas. Conversely, building Ultra High Voltage (UHV) grids has not observed such a positive impact. Finally, targeted policy recommendations are put forward for the low-carbon transition of China's power sector. • A U-shaped relationship exists between grid upgrading and renewable energy generation. • Scale effect occurs when trans -regional transmission lines' ratio exceeds 0.152 • Extra High Voltage has made a significant contribution to renewable energy generation. • Ultra High Voltage has not shown a significant impact on renewable energy generation. • The contribution of grid upgrading increases with the installed capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transferring energy-intensive industries to regions with abundant clean energy is crucial for achieving low-carbon transformation of energy-intensive sectors during carbon neutrality. By manually collecting the project data from energy-intensive enterprises in China, we construct a three-dimensional panel data with 1.86 million observations to empirically examines the impact of the carbon intensity constraint policy (CICP) on the transfer of high energy-intensive projects (HEP). Our findings indicate that the CICP accelerates the transfer of HEP. The transfer direction shows that the HEP transferred from the eastern region to the western region have increased, but the HEP transferred from the western region to the eastern region have not decreased. To explain the above phenomena, we further discuss the underlying mechanism from the perspective of energy structure and industrial agglomeration. From the standpoint of transfer-out regions, the higher the proportion of thermal power in the energy consumption structure, the more HEP will be transferred out. From the standpoint of transfer-in regions, the industrial agglomeration will attract the transfer of the HEP. However, we do not find evidence that wind power and photovoltaics can attract the HEP. This paper provides project-level empirical evidence for promoting the low-carbon transformation of energy-intensive industries. • The carbon intensity constraint accelerates the transfer of energy-intensive projects. • The dynamic effect shows a fluctuating and decreasing trend. • The transfer direction is the net transfer from the east to the west. • The more thermal power, the more energy-intensive projects will be transferred out. • We don't find the attraction of the clean energy for the energy-intensive projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the evident spatial disparity in China's energy consumption and economic development, achieving Pareto optimization of regional energy allocation efficiency proves to be a formidable challenge. Based on this, this paper ingeniously proposed an extended "labor-capital-energy-environment" resource mismatch mode, using 2004–2018 provincial panel data to measure and analyze the spatiotemporal pattern of China's energy mismatch and efficiency loss, while further investigating influencing factor. The results show that: (1) Although the degree of resource misallocation has decreased, the reduction of the number of provinces with excessive energy allocation and the serious shortage of energy allocation are the only effects of the optimization of energy resource misallocation, which has not significantly improved the situation overall. (2) Energy resource misallocation has grown to be a significant factor in China's losses in green total factor productivity (GTFP) brought on by resource misallocation. In addition, the extent of energy mismatch's loss in GTFP demonstrates the spatial heterogeneity of the "eastern > central > northeast > west" region. (3) Environmental regulation can significantly reduce energy mismatch and it is more successful at addressing the issue of excess energy than inadequate energy allocation. Also, the "rebound effect" of technological progress is the main factor aggravating the shortage of energy allocation. • We innovatively proposed an expanded "labor-capital-energy-environment" HK model to construct a theoretical framework for the impact of factor price distortions on GTFP. • The optimization of energy resource misallocation is only reflected in the serious shortage of energy allocation and the reduction of the number of provinces with excessive energy allocation. • The degree of GTFP loss of energy mismatch shows the regional heterogeneity of "eastern > central > northeast > west" spatially. • Environmental regulation can significantly improve the problems of energy mismatch and surplus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the demand for natural gas in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the Northeastern United States, comprising nine states and using annual state-level panel data over the period between 1997 and 2016. It applies panel unit root and cointegration tests, and then estimates the parameters using five alternative estimators: dynamic fixed effects (DFE), mean group (MG), pooled mean group (PMG), common correlated effect mean group (CCEMG), and augmented mean group (AMG). The panel unit root and cointegration tests show that the series are I (1), and cointegrated. The estimated results show that the long run own price elasticities for natural gas in residential, commercial, and industrial sectors are −0.14, −0.29, and −0.28, respectively. The cross price elasticities of fuel oil for natural gas demand in residential, commercial, and industrial sectors are 0.19, 0.52, and 0.24, respectively. The long run natural gas demand is not affected by income in all three sectors. The heating degree days (HDD) have significant positive effects on demand for natural gas in all three sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently the expansion of urban-rural income inequality and the rapid growth of fossil-energy consumption have become two significant challenges China should address to achieve its ambitious goals. For the first time, this study uses the Chinese provincial panel data during the period of 1996–2013 to perform a quantitative analysis on the relationship between the urban-rural income gap and the per capita electricity consumption. Fully considering the potential endogeneity problem, this paper uses the orthogonal-difference Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) as the benchmark estimation method. To ensure the robustness of the estimations, the Theil index and per capita urban-rural income are utilized to measure the urban-rural income gap. The estimation results indicate that the influences of urban-rural income inequality on electricity depend on the income level. At the current stage of economic development, the income disparity has significantly negative impacts on provincial per capita electricity consumption. Moreover, there is also strong evidence for the existence of the inverted U-shaped relationship between per capita electricity consumption and GDP per capita. Furthermore, other economic and social factors, including the enhancement of urbanization and industrialization levels, the adjustment of the population structure, and the development of import-export trade may also promote electricity consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving energy efficiency is crucial for reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Energy efficiency is thought to be greatly improved by digital technology. Investigating the connection between digitalization and energy efficiency can offer a valuable reference for the worldwide achievement of the carbon neutrality goal. To analyze this relationship, this paper constructed a digital evaluation index system and collected data from 90 countries between 2000 and 2020. The findings of the two-way fixed effect panel model indicate that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between digitization and energy intensity. The conclusion is still valid after using the two-stage least square method, the generalized method of moments, and a series of robustness tests. When the digitization level reaches 0.4324, digitization can improve energy efficiency and play an energy-saving role. According to the results of the heterogeneity analysis, developed countries have already reached the stage where digitalization can improve energy efficiency while developing countries have not yet reached this stage. Moreover, no heterogeneity effect caused by the energy mix and electrification level was observed. This study clarifies the causal relationship between digitalization and energy efficiency and provides factual support for digital and decarbonization transitions. • There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between digitization and energy intensity. • Digitization can improve energy efficiency when the digitization level reaches 0.4324 • Digitalization can significantly reduce energy intensity in developed countries. • No heterogeneity was discovered regarding energy endowment and electrification level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has become the largest producer and consumer of cement worldwide. In 2011, carbon emissions of China’s cement industries accounted for 60.6% of cement carbon emissions worldwide. In this context, this paper mainly investigates whether eco-efficiency of China’s cement manufacturers has converging tendency or not. First, we evaluated eco-efficiency under directional distance function (DDF) and the directional slack-based measure (DSBM) to compare their biases. Furthermore, we also implement unit root test of panel data to testify convergence analysis upon eco-efficiency in different regions of China in order to overcoming the demerit of conventional convergence approach, which might have invalid inferences. Our empirical analysis revealed that eco-efficiency under DDF has gaps with that under DSBM due to excess input or output shortages. Eco-efficiency in the east, middle and west converged. It is necessary to substitute raw material, increase additive and improve waste use for China’s cement manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the role of asymmetries in oil price-inflation nexus for selected net oil exporting and net oil importing countries using quarterly data from 2000 to 2014. We consider a dynamic panel data model that allows for large T panels and employ the Shin et al. [1] approach to decompose oil price into positive and negative shocks. We find a significant long-run positive relationship between oil price and inflation for both categories with mixed evidence in the short run. More importantly, in the long run, oil price exerts a greater impact on inflation of net oil importing countries than their oil exporting counterparts. However, oil price asymmetries seem to matter more when dealing with oil exporting nations while the oil price-inflation relationship tends to be unstable over time regardless of the categories. The result is robust to different oil price proxies and income levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries have considered energy subsidies, with both successes and failures. Energy subsidies often have failed to achieve their stated objective of advancing national economic, social, and technological progress. Budgetary savings from the removal of energy subsidies and the resulting upsurge in energy prices may induce the adoption of innovative technologies in a country. The economic impact of energy subsidies has been analyzed for many countries in the literature. However, this issue with energy technology innovation using panel analysis has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, this study is intended to discover the effect of energy subsidies on energy technology innovation in the 25 highest energy subsidy-providing countries for the period of 2010–2020, employing advanced econometric approaches. The results confirm that energy subsidies and energy technology innovation are significantly cointegrated, and the removal of energy subsidies stimulates technological innovation, which induces the adoption of a renewable-based polygeneration system. The policy implication of this paper suggests going for further innovations in energy subsidy reforms for sustainability and technological innovation for polygeneration that may contribute to clean, sustainable, and affordable energy for all (SDG-7). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the impact of nonfarm income on poverty and welfare has been fully recorded, far less is known about the relationship between nonfarm income and the rural household energy transition. This paper attempts to fill this gap by investigating the causal effect of nonfarm income on the rural household cooking energy transition. Based on nationwide data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) conducted in 2018, we applied a two-stage instrumental variable (IV)-probit model to overcome the endogeneity challenges. The empirical results reveal that nonfarm income has a positive impact on clean cooking energy use. The marginal effect of agricultural income is not linear but U-shaped. After controlling for endogeneity, a 1% increase in annual nonfarm income results in an increase in the probability of clean cooking energy use of 3.9% (p < 0.01). Nonfarm income can contribute to the rural household cooking energy transition by raising overall household income and relaxing liquidity constraints. The effect is more salient for certain households, such as male-headed households and those living in the economically underdeveloped central and western regions. Our findings contribute to extending the scope and depth of energy ladder theory and provide policy implications to accelerate the rural cooking energy transition. • We examine the effect of off-farm income on rural household cooking energy choices. • We apply a two-stage IV-Probit model to overcomes the endogeneity challenges. • We find that off-farm income facilitates the transition from dirty to clean fuels for cooking. • In rural China, the energy ladder phenomenon is mainly driven by nonfarm income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper carries out an econometric examination of nonlinear unit root and nonlinear causality in the natural gas-economic growth nexus in Nigeria. The techniques employed include the Kapetanios-Shin-Shell (KSS) nonlinear unit root test, Kruse nonlinear unit root test, Brock-Dechert-Scheinkman (BDS) nonlinearity test, Nonlinear Ordinary Least Squares (NOLS) model, and, the Hatemi-J asymmetric causality test. The results revealed that natural gas consumption and economic growth series follow nonlinear trend process as indicated by the KSS and Kruse tests, and that the relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth in Nigeria is nonlinear as confirmed by the BDS and NOLS tests, where an increase in natural gas consumption increases economic growth. The asymmetric causality test revealed evidence of bidirectional causality between the positive impact of natural gas consumption and economic growth, and, unidirectional causality running from economic growth to negative impact of natural gas consumption. For further research, the paper suggests extending the discussions on the trend process of energy consumption to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) or to other regional energy organizations using panel data techniques. • Nonlinear Unit Root and Nonlinear Causality in Natural Gas- Economic Growth Nexus. • Nonlinear Unit Root Tests, Nonlinearity Tests, and Nonlinear Causality Test. • Natural Gas Consumption and Economic Growth Series Follow Nonlinear Trend Process. • Natural gas Consumption and Economic Growth Relationship is Nonlinear. • Natural Gas Consumption bolsters Economic Growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important driving force of high-quality urban development, developing new-type urbanization plays an irreplaceable role in realizing urban sustainable development goals. The existing work has conducted extensive research on the impact of new-type urbanization. However, the underlying mechanism and empirical evidence of its impact on green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) have not been systematically studied. Therefore, based on the panel data at the prefecture-level city level, this paper uses a dynamic panel data model to empirically verify the impact of developing new-type urbanization on GTFEE. The current work demonstrates the following results. First, developing new-type urbanization shows a fluctuating growth trend, and it has significantly promoted GTFEE improvement. Second, considering the factors of urban heterogeneity, the results reveal that new-type urbanization has a heterogeneous impact on GTFEE of different cities. Furthermore, the analysis of impact mechanism indicates that the effects of industrial structure and technological innovation are crucial channels for new-type urbanization to affect GTFEE. The new-type urbanization can also positively regulate its relationship with GTFEE by interacting with industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation. • The new-type urbanization shows a trend of fluctuating growth. • The new-type urbanization has significantly promoted GTFEE improvement. • The effects of industrial structure and technological innovation are crucial channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of dealing with the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and green innovation for sustainable development is being highlighted. However, since FDI can have both positive and negative effects on sustainable development, coupled with regional differences and different development conditions, there is uncertainty about the relationship between FDI and green innovation. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2018, this paper uses the two-tier stochastic frontier model to decompose the positive and negative effects of FDI on green innovation in different time periods and provinces, and considers the role of regional conditions that lead to regional differences in the green innovation effects of FDI, in order to better provide precise research findings for analyzing the relationship between FDI and green innovation in different provinces in China. First, empirical research shows that the inhibition effect of FDI on green innovation efficiency is smaller than the promotion effect, which makes the combined effect not obviously positive. The average inhibition effect of FDI on green innovation efficiency is 0.0041 and the average promoting effect is 0.0047, which makes the combined effect averaged 0.0006. Second, there are regional differences in the driving effect of FDI on green technology innovation. The western region's FDI has a greater drive effect on the efficiency of green innovation than the central and eastern regions. Third, the promoting effect character of FDI on green innovation efficiency is a "U" type with 70% percentile of the environmental regulation intensity as the inflection point. Due to the imperfection of China's economic structure at this stage, China's relatively developed regions have not yet established the market and industrial structure advantages to fully release the green innovation effect of FDI. Based on the research conclusions, to better promote green innovation efficiency, it is necessary to overcome the disadvantages of the green innovation process dominated by the central government, cultivate and develop green innovation markets, adopt incentive initiatives for foreign enterprises with green technology spillover effects, implement policies to address regional differences, and strengthen the interaction mechanism between FDI and green technology innovation in home countries. • Analyze the bilateral effects of FDI on green innovation efficiency. • FDI not only promotes but also restrains the efficiency of green innovation. • The inhibition effect of FDI is smaller than the promotion effect. • The combined effect of western regions is greater than eastern regions in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With recent surge in the number of vehicles, particularly private vehicles, the transport sector has significantly contributed to the increase in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in China. Most of the existing researches utilized time series data to investigate the factors influencing transport sector's carbon dioxide emission at the national level while neglecting the level of regional differences. This paper adopts provincial panel data from 2000 to 2012 and panel data models to examine the key driving forces of carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector at the regional level in China. The estimation results show that the impacts of urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector vary across regions and decline continuously from the western region to the eastern and central regions. Private vehicles are more important than cargo turnover in emission reduction because of its relatively inefficient and excessive growth. The role of energy efficiency improvement in mitigating carbon dioxide emissions in the three regions varies due to significant differences in research and development investment and management efficiency. Hence, in order to effectively achieve emission reduction, local governments should consider all these factors as well as regional heterogeneity in developing appropriate mitigation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy has had an important effect on the economic growth process of the countries for decades. Therefore, it has received attention from practitioners in the empirical literature of energy economics. This study aims to explore the factors affecting energy intensity, energy efficiency, and activity indexes for 27 OECD countries during the period 1980–2018. For this purpose, the study constructs the energy indexes through the decomposition analysis based on the Fisher ideal index. Then, per capita gross domestic product and energy prices index are used as a proxy for income and energy prices. In this study, the authors conduct recent panel data techniques that take into consideration the cross-sectional dependence. The empirical results of this paper exhibit that income affects both the energy intensity index and the energy efficiency index negatively for most countries. In contrast, its effect on the activity index varies across countries. Besides, it is found that energy prices' impact on these three indexes is mixed; economies reacted to the change in prices differently due to their country-specific characteristics. These empirical findings suggest several courses of action for policymakers. • The study constructs the energy intensity, energy efficiency, and activity indexes. • This study estimates the income and price elasticities of the energy indexes. • Our sample includes 27 OECD countries covering annual data, 1980–2018. • Improvements in energy intensity can be attributed to the rise in energy efficiency. • Income and price elasticities are estimated negative and neutral for the panel, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of state level institutional differences in attracting FDI (foreign direct investment) in wind energy in India. The role of institutional differences is measured by means of constructing a policy index using five key policies in wind energy: feed-in-tariff, open access transmission, third party sale, banking, and wheeling charges. Panel data techniques are then employed to investigate the impact of the policy differences on FDI inflow in wind energy for eight Indian states that have significant resource potential over the seven year period (2004–05 to 2010–11) after controlling for several state-specific factors. The results indicate that state-specific policy index for wind energy is significant in attracting FDI in a state irrespective of whether control variables are included or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilizing the global DEA (data envelopment analysis), this paper analyzes China's energy efficiency from both static and dynamic perspectives based on China's provincial panel data for the period of 2001–2010. We present the evolution of energy efficiency in China from 2001 to 2010, and identify the key factors influencing the energy efficiency from the aspects of technical progress, productive scale and management level. The results show that there was an overall declining trend for China's energy efficiency from 2001 to 2005, and technical regress and the decrease in scale efficiency were the main reasons for this decline. Then an overall rising trend appeared during 2005–2010, and technical progress was the most important motivation for this increase. Moreover, among the three main regions in China, the eastern China was leading in the energy efficiency during the sample period, while the energy efficiency in western China fell far behind since the beginning. And the energy efficiency in central China was in the middle. This indicates that west region may be China's promising growth engine of energy efficiency in the future, and further technical progress is thought to be the key motivation for this improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper measures environmental productivity in 70 countries over the period 1981–2007. Differences in green (environmental) productivity growth across countries under distinct country specific production frontier are measured using directional distance function model, which incorporates desirable output (GDP) and undesirable output (CO2 emissions). The metafrontier which envelops the two country groups, developed countries and developing countries, are estimated using balanced panel data for the sample countries over the study period. A parametric method is used to compute technical efficiency change, technical change, and scale efficiency change, which aggregate to the generalized metafrontier Malmquist productivity index. The overall results indicated the two country groups operated under distinct stochastic production frontiers and therefore used different production technologies. It is found that developing countries achieved higher growth in their average environmental productivity relative to the metafrontier. Thus the results coincide with the convergence growth theory. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A computational hydrodynamics method was formulated and implemented for horizontal axis tidal turbines. This paper presents a comparative analysis between screw propellers and horizontal axis turbines, in terms of geometry and motion parameters, inflow velocity analysis and the implementation methodologies. Comparison and analysis are given for a marine propeller model and a horizontal axis turbine model that have experimental measurements available in literature. Analysis and comparison are presented in terms of thrust coefficients, shaft torque/power coefficients, blade surface pressure distributions, and downstream velocity profiles. The effect of number of blades from 2 to 5, of a tidal turbine on hydrodynamic efficiency is also obtained and presented. The key implementation techniques and methodologies are provided in detail for the propeller based panel method tool to migrate as a prediction tool for tidal turbine. While the method has been proven to be accurate and robust for many propellers tested in the past, this numerical tool could be validated further for turbines. To further refine and validate the panel method for various turbines, it requires substantial additional experimental measurements. These measurements include downstream velocity profile by using LDV and/or SPIV, which are essential for numerical wake vortices descritization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Electricity regulators pay attention to electricity supply reliability in many countries, considering that power interruption can cause damage and destruction as modern societies increasingly rely on electricity. Since 2020, China's regulators have designed incentive schemes to encourage power grid firms to improve electricity supply reliability in some regions. An effective incentive scheme requires that regulators identify the cost of reliability improvement and match it to the incentive scheme. Using provincial panel data for 2012–2018, this paper employs the directional output distance function approach to estimate the shadow price of power interruptions in China's grid system—that is, the marginal cost of electricity supply reliability improvements. Results indicate that the shadow price of 1 min of interruption per customer ranged from 59.66 to 74.65 RMB in 2012–2018. This estimation also shows that the shadow price of 1 min of interruption varies substantially among provincial grid utilities. The marginal cost of improving electricity supply reliability in China's grid system is lower than in developed countries. Since the incentives far from cover the cost of improvement, the schemes implemented in some Chinese regions cannot provide incentives for quality improvements. • We estimate the cost of reducing power interruptions in China for the first time. • The annual average of SPOI is 65.82 RMB in China. • There are huge regional differences in the cost of reducing power interruptions. • Incentives are far less than the cost of reducing power interruptions in some cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of manufacturing as a main determinant of economic growth has been explored extensively in the literature considering manufacturing as the engine of economic growth. In our study, a new database covering 117 countries for 1995–2017 containing four indicators, namely manufacturing value added share in GDP, growth of GDP, manufacturing energy intensity, and UNIDO's Competitive Industrial Performance score is constructed. Relying on this dataset and the Granger causality tests the paper investigates the effect of economic growth, energy intensity and the competitiveness index on manufacturing value added. Applying adequate econometric methods the effect of this set of variables on the relative importance of manufacturing in the economy as a whole measured by the share of MVA in GDP (MVAsh) is analyzed. An inverted U shape is verified with different turning points between static and dynamic analyses in the full sample, as well as in industrialized countries and emerging and developing countries separately, with turning points all within samples. Energy intensity has negative effect in most of the cases while CIP has positive effect with high magnitudes. The rate of adjustment is high. • We estimate the adjustment rate and main indicators effect on manufacturing sector. • Static and dynamic panel specifications are proposed modelling MVA share and growth. • We explore energy intensity effect on selected indicators of industrial development. • We use for first time in such specifications manufacturing energy intensity. • UNIDO's Competitive Industrial Performance score is used for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a dynamic panel threshold model to empirically investigate whether the effects of technological progress on metal consumption in the electricity industry differs by the change of industrial structure upgrading level (INSTRU). We consider a panel data set including 41 countries over the period 2000–2016. The estimated results suggests 2.72, 2.39 and 2.84 as the average threshold parameters of INSTRU for basic ferrous metals (Iron and Chromium), basic non-ferrous metals (Aluminium, Copper and Nickel) and critical metals (Indium, Neodymium and Dysprosium) respectively. When INSTRU is lower than the corresponding threshold, domestic technological progress (LnSRD) and foreign technological spillover progress (LnSIM) significantly promote the consumption of the above-mentioned metals. However, when INSTRU is higher than the corresponding threshold, LnSRD and LnSRD will reduce the consumption of basic ferrous metals such as Iron and Chromium, but will continue to increase the consumption of critical metals such as Indium, Neodymium and Dysprosium. Last, we confirm that LnSRD play a more important role in changing metal consumption structure in the electricity industry than that of LnSIM. These findings are of great significance to government policies that ensure the transition to low-carbon electricity systems. • Nonlinear effects of TEC on metal consumption in the electricity industry is examined. • A dynamic panel threshold model was used to estimate the threshold effect of INSTRU. • The effects of SRD and SIM on metal consumption structure depends on INSTRU. • The consumption of basic metals has decreased, while critical metals has increased. • The effects of SRD on metal consumption is stronger than that of SIM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient use of water will make a notable contribution to ensure energy efficiency in Turkey to reach its National Energy Efficiency Action Plan goals. From the water for electricity perspective, this is the first study to investigate the effects of water consumption on electricity consumption in Turkey's provinces over the period 2008–2018. We apply the Spatial Durbin and Spatial Autoregressive Models to address the spatial dependence and spillover effects among neighboring provinces. This study's core findings reveal that: (1) A 1% increase in water consumption raises electricity consumption by more than 0.10% on average, which puts pressure on electricity consumption. (2) Water consumption has positive spatial effects. (3) Electricity prices are negatively related to electricity consumption. (4) Urbanization has a reducing effect on electricity consumption supports energy efficiency. Overall, this paper fills the water-energy nexus gap in Turkey. This study's results can provide decision-makers a different perspective on the importance of efficient water use in improving energy efficiency. • The determinants of electricity consumption are estimated for Turkey. • We analyze the spatial effects of water abstraction on electricity consumption. • We use spatial panel data econometric models to control for spatial dependence. • Increase in urbanization and electricity prices drive less electricity consumption. • Joint management of water and electricity is needed to provide energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High energy-consuming heavy industry is one of the main sources of China's carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions. Based on 2005–2017 panel data of China's 30 provinces, this paper uses a quantile regression model to investigate CO 2 emissions in the heavy industry. The empirical results show that economic growth exerts a stronger influence on the heavy industry's CO 2 emissions in the 25th-50th quantile provinces, due to the difference in the fixed asset investment and heavy industrial output. The impact of urbanization on CO 2 emissions in the 10th-25th quantile provinces is lower than that in other quantile provinces because these provinces have the least number of college graduates. Energy efficiency has a smaller impact on CO 2 emissions in the upper 90th quantile province, owing to the difference in R&D personnel investment and the number of patents granted. Similarly, environmental regulations have minimal impact on CO 2 emissions in the upper 90th quantile province, since the growth rate of industrial pollution treatment investment in these provinces is the lowest. However, the impact of energy consumption structure on CO 2 emissions in the 10th-25th and 25th-50th quantile provinces is the highest, because of the provincial differences in coal consumption. • Energy efficiency has a minimal promotion effect on CO 2 emission reduction in the upper 90th quantile province. • Economic growth has a greater pulling action on CO 2 emissions in the 25th-50th quantiles. • Urbanization helps reduce CO 2 emissions, and its contribution to emission reduction in the 10th-25th quantiles is minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to use foreign direct investment (FDI) to achieve sustainable development of resources, environment and economy in China has become an increasingly important proposition. Previous studies mainly focused on the relationship between FDI quantity and energy efficiency, and neglected the important role of FDI quality in improving energy efficiency. Based on the panel data on 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2016, this paper uses slacks-based measure data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) method to estimate energy efficiency, and then uses seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) method to empirically study the influence of FDI quality on energy efficiency. The results are presented as follows: (1) From the national level view, FDI quality plays a significant role in promoting China's energy efficiency; (2) From the regional-level view, FDI quality plays a significant role in promoting China's energy efficiency in coastal and inland areas, but its role in the inland area is significantly greater than that in the coastal area. The results indicate that China should make full use of the opportunity of global economic integration and pay more attention to the improvement of FDI quality, so as to promote energy efficiency and low-carbon economic development. • The important role of FDI quality in improving energy efficiency is studied. • SUR method is used to avoid autocorrelation between data sections. • SBM-DEA method is used to estimate energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past several years, the analysis of the determinants of renewable energy production has become an increasingly popular topic in academic research and governmental policy around the globe. However, many questions about these factors, especially in the transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe and the Caucasus and Central Asia, remain unanswered. To address this gap, this paper presents novel empirical evidence on the primary economic and political factors shaping transitions to a low carbon economy via renewable energy generation in post-socialist countries. Using extensive data from 27 transition economies over the years 1990–2014, it has been found that higher economic growth and rising level of unemployment and government debt acted as stimulators of renewable energy generation. The implementation of the Kyoto Protocol also led to the significant increase in renewables utilization. Furthermore, increasing CO 2 emissions per capita, the implementation of the competition policy and deteriorating competitiveness within the energy market significantly limited production of energy from renewable sources. The findings also suggest that since the beginning of the last global financial crisis in 2007 reinforcement of competition within energy market and additional public funding had a much stronger role to play as factors stimulating renewables deployment. • The study provides insights on factors influencing renewable energy generation. • Data from 27 transition countries over the years 1990–2014 were analyzed. • The implementation of the Kyoto Protocol was a milestone in energy transition. • Economic growth, unemployment and rising government debt acted as stimulators. • Deteriorating energy market competitiveness limited renewables deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the roles of trade openness, technological innovation, and energy price in energy intensity in OPEC countries using panel Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) approaches in a dynamic heterogeneous panel setting to analyze panel data over the period 1990–2016. The investigation affirms that trade openness plays a key role in diminishing energy intensity and demonstrates that the innovation is insignificantly associated with energy intensity, while renewable energy is significantly related energy intensity. The robustness check confirms that the findings from ARDL approach are consistent with Dumitrescue-Hurlin Panel causality and Cross-Sectional Auto-Regressive Distributed Lags (CS-ARDL) tests. • This paper estimates the role of trade openness, innovation, and energy price on energy intensity. • Trade openness is found to be a driving factor in reducing energy intensity. • Innovation is insignificantly associated with energy intensity. • Renewable energy plays a critical role in reducing energy intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]