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Eco-conferences like COP26 in Glasgow (UK) in 2021 have brought the debate on energy consumption and climate change to the fore. Given that a third of the energy produced worldwide is consumed in the home, it is pertinent to investigate how households use emerging technologies that allow households to monitor their energy consumption. This paper investigates how Danish households use green IT to monitor and manage their energy use and studies the related meaning householders attach to the green IT. We present qualitative data collected through interviews with 14 households, electric car owners mostly, who have adopted an application to monitor green energy availability – and its derived consumption. The paper highlights these householders' green energy monitoring practices with an emphasis on the meaning they make of the green IT application they used. Our study found that households can use more green energy without interacting continuously with the green IT application. This contrasts with a common assumption in the field of green IT design that consumers must continuously engage with the green IT to consume more green energy. We also posit that including householders in future green IT design is paramount for designing successful green IT applications. Finally, this paper calls for household energy consumption studies to view energy consumption as a service where specific practices are matched to energy sources – rather than viewing energy availability as a solitary incident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of energy consumption, military spending and information and communication technology (ICT) on CO2 emissions for the Group of Twenty (G20) countries using panel data covering the period from 1980 to 2019. This study employs cross-sectional dependence tests, unit root tests, and the Westerlund co-integration tests to explore the reliable, consistent, and unbiased long-run associations between the variables. Moreover, it uses the panel ARDL approach and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation to confirm the robustness of the findings, as well as addresses the endogeneity issue. This study reveals the significant and positive impact of military spending, energy consumption and ICT on CO2 emissions. The results imply that higher military expenditure, energy consumption, and technological advancement in ICT cause greater CO2 emissions, which affect the environmental sustainability. The findings have several implications for the governments of G20 countries, regulatory bodies and international organizations, and advises the policymakers to take appropriate action to control the CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming remains the most devastating environmental issue embattling the global economies, with significant contributions emanating from CO2 emissions. The continued rise in the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions serves as a compelling force which constitutes the core of discussion at the recent COP26 prompting nations to commit to the net-zero emission target. The current research presents the first empirical investigation on the roles of technological advancement, demographic mobility, and energy transition in G7 pathways to environmental sustainability captured by CO2 emissions per capita (PCCO2) from 2000 to 2019. The study considers the additional impacts of structural change and resource abundance. The empirical backings are subjected to pre-estimation tests consisting of cross-sectional dependence, second-generation stationarity, and panel cointegration tests. The model estimation is based on cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag, dynamic common correlated effects mean group, and augmented mean group for the main analysis and robustness checks. The findings reveal the existence of EKC based on the direct and indirect effects of the components of economic growth. The indicators of demographic mobility differ in the direction of influence on PCCO2. For instance, while rural population growth negatively influences PCCO2 in the short-run alone, urban population growth increases PCCO2 in the short-run and long-run periods. Nonrenewable energy, information computer technology (ICT) imports, and mobile cellular subscriptions serve as positive predictors of PCCO2, while ICT exports and renewable energy moderate the surge in PCCO2. Policy implications that enhance environmental sustainability are suggested following the empirical verifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Transport and mobility contribute a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions, and fossil fuel consumption must be reduced for mobility to meet sustainable development goals. Strengthening public transport is a key element of the required mobility transition, including technological innovation. To address the related institutionalisation processes, we analyse the interplay between technological development and the intensifying mobility transition debate. We focus on the challenges for the roles of public transport professionals, who are essential for the implementation of sustainable mobility measures at the local level. Case selection and methods: We present two cases: First, we address urban ropeways as an incremental option to extend public transport networks. In a series of three expert workshops (23 participants in total), local public transport professionals discussed the potential of urban ropeways, and challenges concerning the related institutional framework. Second, we chose an exploratory approach to understand how public transport professionals engage in the debate on the potentially disruptive role of automated driving in the future of public transport. This included an analysis of strategy documents and experimentation, as well as observations at sectoral events and stakeholder forums. In both cases, we focus on the specific context in Germany, which ensures a coherent institutional framework and a consistent analysis. Results: We found a general openness among public transport professionals to consider the potential of mature urban ropeway technology. However, critical gaps remain in planning instruments and the densely regulated public transport planning regime. Concerning automated driving, a strong technological focus can be observed in the related transport policy debate. At the local level, despite numerous technical tests, there is hardly any discussion of more far-reaching requirements regarding integration of the technology into the mobility system in a way that ensures sustainability-oriented goals are met. Conclusions: Beyond both incremental and potentially disruptive technological drivers, the proactive and targeted design of corresponding institutionalisation processes proves to be a key challenge for achieving a sustainable mobility transition. Institutionalisation and the related roles of public transport professionals must be considered in relation to the mobility transition's substantive goals and the associated political discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study fills a gap in the relevant literature by exploring the linear and nonlinear effect of energy productivity on environmental degradation based on economic growth, trade openness, and energy consumption variables for the case of Cyprus, over the period from 1990Q1 to 2018Q4. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study attempt to conduct this nexus for Cyprus, so the empirical findings are likely to shed light on and open a new debate on the subject of environmental sustainability. The empirical findings of the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag approach revealed that the outcomes of energy productivity instigated a positive (negative) impact on the atmosphere, where a 1% upsurge in positive shock of energy productivity decreased CO2 emissions (CO2E) by 0.265%, and a 1% rise in negative shock caused a 0.837% increase in pollution in the long run. GDP is positively related to pollution in both shocks. Trade results disclosed that trade openness stimulated a positive (negative) influence on the atmosphere. A 1% increase in positive shock of trade openness decreased CO2E by 0.268%, and a 1% growth in negative shock instigated a 0.423% rise in pollution in Cyprus. These results are consistent and supported by both linear and nonlinear techniques. As a part of its long-term climate policy goals, policymakers in Cyprus should invest in energy productivity and R&D that embraces cleaner technology innovations and prioritize cross-cutting environmental technology policies to combat climate challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiscal decentralization is a topic of great importance, especially in the context of environmental sustainability. Numerous research studies have been conducted on fiscal decentralization providing conflicting results, and therefore, the current study fills the gap by examining the effect of fiscal decentralization on environmental quality in the presence of environment-related technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, international trade, and economic growth taking seven fiscally decentralized advanced OECD countries as a case study. Using data from 1990 to 2018, we employed the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to test the spatial spillover effect of fiscal decentralization on the environment in seven fiscally decentralized countries. The primary findings show that carbon emissions are affected by the associated regions, which significantly correlates with the spatial distribution, and in the short run, fiscal decentralization increases carbon emissions. However, in the long run, fiscal decentralization decreases carbon emissions and is essential for achieving the goals of net-zero carbon emission. The results also show that the indirect effect is significantly positive in the economic-geographical weight matrix, and the spatial spillover effect of fiscal decentralization is not conducive to the environment of countries with economic exchanges. Furthermore, fiscal decentralization has a threshold effect, and the results show that when the fiscal decentralization degree is higher, it significantly reduces CO2 emissions. Any policy in these countries that target renewable energy, fiscal decentralization, and eco-innovation will significantly reduce carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors and collaborators have devised innovative technologies that decrease foundry costs, pollution, materials use, and energy. These include: (a) applying advanced oxidation to green sand and haghouse dust to diminish clay, coal, sand, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and costs; (b) replacing phenolic urethane core binders with collagen-alkali silicate binders to diminish VOCs; (c) replacing coke with anthracite fines held together with biomaterial to reduce energy and costs. It is proposed by the authors that if a foundry were to concurrently employ all these innovative technologies (with 50% an-thracite bricks), it could potentially diminish overall costs by 6.6%, life cycle energy costs by 15%, VOC pollution by 57%, sand by 85%, clay and coal by 50%, and iron scrap by 9%. These computations are per full-scale operations for advanced oxidation; and R&D results for replacing binders and coke. This paper also notes that when electricity comes primarily from coal fired power plants, electric induction furnaces consumes more life cycle energy than do cupolas for melting iron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Asia is a hub for encompassing air contamination, with 37 of the top tiers of the 40 most contaminated urban communities around the globe (IQAIR, 2020). From this perspective, this research aims to explore the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve while controlling for the impacts of technological innovation and energy consumption on the sustainable economic growth–environmental pollution nexus in the backdrop of South Asian economies by using panel dataset from 1998 to 2018. Therefore, this analysis adopts a fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) approach for examination, which affirms the EKC hypothesis existence, suggesting that the environment in South Asia is deteriorating while technological innovations have moderated the impact. Moreover, the empirical findings indicate that energy consumption as well as technological innovations both have a significant positive impact on the CO2 emanations, which harms biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study seeks to examine the policy scheme of Asian countries and their efforts to achieve sustainable environmental practices in terms of green growth, green financing, and CO2emission reduction programs. This study investigates the role of GDP growth, sources of energy consumption, and other plausible hypothetical factors in CO2 emissions using evidence from selected Asian countries over the period of 1980–2015. The contribution of this research is unique, with the use of these plausible variables under the framework of EKC, which makes this study different from other studies and helps fill a gap in the literature. This study has used panel Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) test, the panel Granger causality test namely the Dumitrescu-Hurlin test (2012) and the Innovative Accounting Approach. The results of FMOLS for the full panel set indicates the presence of an EKC hypothesis, where the impact of GDP growth and the square of GDP growth on CO2 emissions are positive and negative, respectively, in the context of 10 Asian economies. The findings of FMOLS for lower income economies do not support the EKC hypothesis; however, the results exhibit that high and upper middle income economies maintain the EKC hypothesis. The results of high income and upper middle income economies confirm the existence of the environment Kuznets curve, and the results of GDPit show that both significantly positively impact logGDPiton CO2 emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the common denominators for success when we consider increasing gas efficiency and enhancing creativity in organizations? As an analogy, the principles of increasing gas efficiency are applicable to enhancing creativity in organizations: Plan activities in advance, allocate sufficient time, resources, and set a SMART goal with clear priority and focus. Identify talent in ourselves and others and do not fall into the temptation of following others. Big ideas take time. Maintain momentum, avoid interruptions, incorporate new technologies, information, and feedback, and modify action to achieve goals. We have 100% control of our thoughts and action. Stop idling, take action, and do it now. If everyone contributes just a little, the cumulative effect over time can be huge. If we have the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) for doing the right things that will benefit humanity and the whole world, but fail to do them, is this ethical? We, the managers, need to focus on what we have done and what we have failed to do, change our thinking, change our behavior, and accomplish our goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]