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With carbon emissions becoming more and more closely related to human activities and China being the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, the cost of environmental quality deterioration is high and environmental sustainability is low. Against this background, it is urgent to implement low-carbon recycling and green development by introducing green funds based on the role of environmental regulation intensity. Therefore, based on the data of 30 provinces from 2004 to 2019, the paper considers the dynamic impact of environmental regulation intensity and green finance development on regional environmental sustainability. The provincial data involve specific spatial locations and focus on the economic interactions among provinces, and the spatial econometric model is very applicable. Based on the spatial econometric model, this paper empirically examines the direct effect, spatial spillover effect, and total effect, considering both spatial and temporal patterns. The research shows that (1) China's provincial environmental sustainability shows a noticeable spatial agglomeration effect, which is significantly and spatially autocorrelated and clustered. (2) Based on the national level, an increase in the intensity of environmental regulation will significantly increase regional environmental sustainability, and the development of green finance will also significantly increase regional environmental sustainability. Additionally, the environmental regulation intensity has a significant positive spatial spillover effect, which may increase environmental sustainability in neighboring provinces. There is also a significant positive spatial spillover effect of the impact of green finance development on environmental sustainability. (3) Based on the provincial level, the impact of environmental regulation and green financial development on environmental sustainability in each region is significantly positive, with the most significant impact in the western region and the smallest coefficient in the eastern region. The paper proposes policy and managerial implications to promote regional environmental sustainability based on the above findings., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: To compare the carbon footprint and environmental impact of single-use and reusable flexible cystoscopes., Materials and Methods: We analysed the expected clinical lifecycle of single-use (Ambu aScope™ 4 Cysto) and reusable (Olympus CYF-V2) flexible cystoscopes, from manufacture to disposal. Performance data on cumulative procedures between repairs and before decommissioning were derived from a high-volume multispecialty practice. We estimated carbon expenditures per-case using published data on endoscope manufacturing, energy consumption during transportation and reprocessing, and solid waste disposal., Results: A fleet of 16 reusable cystoscopes in service for up to 135 months averaged 207 cases between repairs and 3920 cases per lifecycle. Based on a manufacturing carbon footprint of 11.49 kg CO 2 /kg device for reusable flexible endoscopes and 8.54 kg CO 2 /kg device for single-use endoscopes, the per-case manufacturing cost was 1.37 kg CO 2 for single-use devices and 0.0017 kg CO 2 for reusable devices. The solid mass of single-use and reusable devices was 0.16 and 0.57 kg, respectively. For reusable devices, the energy consumption of reusable device reprocessing using an automated endoscope reprocessor was 0.20 kg CO 2 , and per-case costs of device repackaging and repair were 0.005 and 0.02 kg CO 2 , respectively. The total estimated per-case carbon footprint of single-use and reusable devices was 2.40 and 0.53 kg CO 2 , respectively, favouring reusable devices., Conclusion: In this lifecycle analysis, the environmental impact of reusable flexible cystoscopes is markedly less than single-use cystoscopes. The primary contributor to the per-case carbon cost of reusable devices is energy consumption of reprocessing., (© 2022 BJU International.)

Global warming is a life-threatening risk to mankind and its survival; to combat this risk, the considerable contribution of renewable energy cannot be overlooked for sustainable growth globally. The aim of this paper is to scrutinize the threshold level and asymmetric connection among renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment, financial inclusion, and agricultural productivity in dissimilar regimes of the different income levels of 123 countries from 1995 to 2019 by applying an advance technique PSTR (panel smooth transition regression) model. The PSTR model results imply that the connection between renewable energy consumption and agricultural productivity at all the estimates is non-linear. Moreover, in all countries, there is a positive and significant connection among renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment, financial inclusion, and agricultural productivity in both low and high regimes, except the carbon emission, which has a negative and significant impact on agricultural productivity. Based on the results of this study, the recommendations are as follows: (i) to increase renewable energy consumption, efficient-energy resources should be used by farmers for the agricultural process; (ii) the dependence on non-renewable energy resources should be minimized and shifted towards natural and renewable resources., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

China has announced a target of achieving carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Therefore, it is important to assess the economic impacts and emission reduction effects of China's low-carbon policies. In this paper, a multi-agent dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model is established. We analyze the effects of carbon tax and carbon cap-and-trade policies under both deterministic and stochastic conditions, as well as their ability to cope with stochastic shocks. We found that (1) from a deterministic perspective, these two policies have the same effect. Every 1% cut in CO 2 emissions will bring a 0.12% output loss, a 0.5% drop in demand for fossil fuels, and a 0.05% rise in demand for renewable energy; (2) from a stochastic perspective, effects of these two policies are different. This is mainly because economic uncertainty does not change the cost of CO 2 emissions under a carbon tax policy, but it does change the price of CO 2 quotas and the emission reduction behaviors under a carbon cap-and-trade policy; (3) from an economic volatility perspective, both two policies can act as automatic stabilizers. Compared to a carbon tax, a cap-and-trade policy can better ease economic fluctuations. The results of this study provide implications for policy-making., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The key objective of this study is to explore the relationship between economic growth, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, exchange rate variation, and environmental pollution by carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in 19 coastline Mediterranean countries over the period 1995-2020. We suggest the application of two different approaches, namely, the symmetric autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL) and the non-linear ARDL (NARDL) model. These methods distinguished from traditional ones by the fact that they assess both the long and short run dynamics among variables. More importantly, the NARDL method is the only technique enabling us to test the asymmetric effects of a shock in independent variables on dependent ones. Our results indicate that the long-term pollution is positively correlated with exchange rate for developed countries and negatively correlated for developing ones. Since environmental degradation in developing countries is more vulnerable to any fluctuation in exchange rate, we suggest that policymakers in Mediterranean developing countries must pay more attention to exchange rate variation as well as boosting renewable energy consumption in order to decrease CO 2 emissions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This article investigates the relationship between energy poverty and public expenditure for a sample of 20 Sub-Saharan countries over the period 2006-2020. This paper focuses on three research objectives. First is using a panel data threshold model with fixed effects proposed by Hansen (J Econom 93(2):345-368, 1999) to detect the presence of the nonlinear effect of public expenditure on energy poverty. Second, we try to explain the effect of public expenditure transmission channels on energy poverty. Third, we explore the impact of public expenditure on energy poverty considering the role of institution factors. Thus, our analysis approves the existence of a link between energy poverty and public expenditure with a threshold of about 17.65% of GDP. In addition, CO2 emissions can accelerate the growth of energy poverty in SSA countries. Indeed, the results show that in countries with high energy poverty, there is a bidirectional causal link between CO2 emissions and energy poverty. This would provide a better understanding of the relationship between public expenditure and energy poverty suggesting useful implications for policymakers in targeting sustainable energy., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Balanced and sustainable development is one of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) objectives. Therefore, considering the role of urbanization and human capital as critical elements for sustainable development, we analyzed the moderating effect of human capital on the relationship between urbanization and CO 2 emissions in Asian member countries of the Belt and Road Initiative. In doing so, we used the STIRPAT framework and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. We also employed the pooled OLS estimator with the Driscoll-Kraay's robust standard errors, the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), and the two-stage least square (2SLS) estimators in the case of 30 BRI countries for the period 1980-2019. The relationship between urbanization, human capital, and carbon dioxide emissions were examined first by showing a positive correlation between urbanization and carbon dioxide emissions. Secondly, we showed that human capital mitigated the positive effect of urbanization on CO 2 emissions. Next, we demonstrated that human capital had an inverted U-shaped effect on CO 2 emissions. Specifically, a 1% increase in urbanization rose CO 2 emissions by 0.756%, 0.943%, and 0.592% following the Driscoll-Kraay's OLS, the FGLS, and the 2SLS estimators, respectively. A 1% increase in the combination of human capital and urbanization reduced CO 2 by 0.751%, 0.834%, and 0.682%, respectively. Finally, a 1% increase in the square of human capital decreased CO 2 emissions by 1.061%, 1.045%, and 0.878%, respectively. Accordingly, we provide policy implications on the conditional influence of human capital in the urbanization-CO 2 emission nexus for sustainable development in these countries., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The aim of this study is to test the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) and pollution haven (PH) hypotheses in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). An important methodological point that has been over-looked by many studies is that environmental quality is not only correlated in time but also in space. For this purpose, the study applies spatial panel econometric analysis using a balanced panel of 35 SSA nations from 2002 to 2015 to examine the EKC and PH hypotheses. Both spatial interdependence and individual heterogeneity are accounted for through the application of the spatial Durbin model (SDM) so as to avoid potential bias and inefficiencies in parameter estimates. As proxies for environmental quality, panel data aggregates on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and the depletion of natural resources are utilised. The findings offer proof for the EKC theory about the depletion of natural resources in SSA. The EKC theory, however, does not apply to CO 2 emissions. Moreover, the study finds that the positive scale effect of trade outweighs the negative technique effect of trade, which indicates that trade liberalisation has a negative effect on both environmental quality indices. This discovery supports the PH theory. The study also demonstrates positive spatial spill-over for natural resource depletion between neighbouring countries and negative spatial spill-over for carbon dioxide emission between close countries., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Present climate change consists of global warming that is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, generally carbon dioxide. The study examines the pollution haven, pollution halo, and environmental Kuznets curve for a number of Asian countries during the period of 1985 to 2020. Outcomes suggest that urbanization, gross domestic product per capita, energy consumption, and foreign direct investment inflow have positive effects, while gross domestic product square, foreign direct investment square, and tourism have negative effects on emissions of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, findings support the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve, pollution haven, and pollution halo hypothesis for the selected Asian countries. We also find robust results of rationality of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore; of pollution haven hypothesis for Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, and Singapore; and of pollution halo hypothesis for Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, and Singapore., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study explores the role of governance in shaping the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), especially focusing on its curvature and turning point. The study highlights the role of various governance indicators in the formulation, implementation, and enforcement of environmental regulations. However, the study asserts that since in developing countries poverty, infrastructure, and human development are valued above a clean environment, good governance is less likely to contribute to mitigating pollution in developing countries. Using a panel of 160 countries, the study finds that better governance helps bring down the critical level of per capita income at which the relationship between income and pollution turns negative. Furthermore, the EKC can be shifted downward by improving governance in the respective countries. The study, however, reveals that the dividends of better governance are more pronounced at higher income levels. Since good governance works only when the desired regulations are in place, it is recommended that for poor countries aid packages for governance reforms need to emphasize the enactment of specific environmental regulations. Investment in institutions is expected to yield maximum dividends in such countries that have gained high-income status but are still lacking in institutional development., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

There has been a plethora of debate on the link between fiscal decentralization and a drop in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, even though the evidence supporting this assertion is relatively sparse. Although the precise nature of this relationship is still up for discussion, economic hypothesis postulates that fiscal decentralization has an impact on environmental sustainability. Some researchers claim that fiscal decentralization could potentially result in a race to the top, while some believe it would lead to a race to the bottom. This analysis intends to shed light on the precise processes by which this connection may work in South Africa between 1960 and 2020 in light of current discussions in environmental and development economics. In contrary to previous studies, this paper employs a cutting-edge dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulations methodology to evaluate the positive and negative variations in fiscal decentralization on CO 2 emissions. Our findings demonstrate the prevalence of the race to the top strategy by illustrating how fiscal decentralization has a bearing on CO 2 emissions reduction in the short and long terms. In accordance with the findings, greater fiscal decentralization should be implemented through the transfer of more powers to regional authorities, especially in the realm of environmental legislation considerations, in a bid to preserve South Africa's environmental integrity. By establishing a lower tier of government and defining roles at the federal and provincial divisions, South Africa could adopt strategies to improve green environment in an effort to fulfill the energy-saving tasks of fiscal expenditures., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The quest for rapid economic development by modern nations has led to an unprecedented increase in carbon emissions. Knowledge spillovers from increasing trade activities and effective environmental regulations have been suggested as viable means of controlling these rising emissions. To that end, this study aims to examine the impact 'trade openness' and 'institutional quality' had on CO 2 emissions in BRICS countries from 1991 to 2019. Three indices, namely, institutional quality, political stability, and political efficiency, are constructed to measure the overall institutional impact on emissions. A single indicator analysis is conducted for a deeper investigation of each index component. Given the existence of cross-sectional dependence among variables, the study uses the modern dynamic common correlated effects (DCCE) method to estimate their long-run relationships. Confirming the pollution haven hypothesis, the findings reveal that 'trade openness' indeed is a cause of environmental degradation in the BRICS nations. Through reduced corruption, improved political stability, bureaucratic accountability, and better law and order, 'institutional quality' is found to be contributing positively to environmental sustainability. It is also confirmed that renewable energy sources do have a positive environmental impact; however, it is found to be insufficient to offset the adverse effects caused by non-renewable sources. Based on the results, it is advised that BRICS countries should strengthen their cooperation with developed countries so that positive spillovers of green technologies may occur. Moreover, renewable resources should be aligned with firms' profits so that sustainable production practices can become the new norm., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Although the effect of public debt on environmental quality has been envisaged in prior empirical studies, the outcomes are inconclusive. Moreover, institutional quality can directly or indirectly influence public debt and environmental quality. However, empirical investigations probing the moderating role of institutional performance in public debt and environmental degradation relationship are missing. This research pursues to bridge this gap by exploring whether the institutional quality is a factor that moderates the debt-environment relationship of OIC economies in the period 1996 to 2018. Short-run findings disclose that public debt statistically significantly degrades the environment quality in the panels of low and overall OIC-income countries, but it mends the environmental performance in the high-income panel of OIC countries. Institutional performance is negatively linked with all environmental damaging measures across the three-income stratum of OIC countries. Both the short-run and long-run results of the interactive term between public debt and institutional quality reveal that it turns the unfavorable influence of public debt on environmental damaging measures. The outcomes of the study validated an inverted U-shape EKC when CO 2 , CH 4 , and ecological footprint are employed in all three-income panels of OIC countries. However, for N 2 O emission, a U-shaped EKC is seen in the panels of low-income and overall OIC nations. To address environmental issues, our results suggest that OIC countries should improve the institutional quality and control the public debt at a certain level, also ensure sustainable use of biocapacity and forests., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper investigates the role of export quality in climate action goal of the sustainable development goals in emerging Asian countries. For this purpose, the empirical model that observes the impact of real GDP, energy use and export quality index on carbon emissions is constructed and is analyzed by ARDL bounds testing approach for the period from 1970 to 2014. We also include the square of real GDP as independent variable to observe the existence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis which implies the parabolic relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. The findings show that increase in export quality leads to a fall in CO 2 emissions for China and India. In contrast, the effect of increasing export quality increases CO 2 emissions in Thailand and the Philippines. Lastly, our asymmetric causality results show that the positive shocks of export quality causes positive shocks of CO 2 emissions in Thailand and Indonesia. Furthermore, we found that positive export quality shocks cause negative CO 2 emissions shocks in India while negative export quality shocks cause positive CO 2 emissions shocks in China. We also confirm the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in China and Thailand., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This research is an endeavor to improve the literature on information and communication technology (ICT)-financial development-environmental sustainability nexus by conducting an aggregated and disaggregated analysis on the role of financial development and technological progress in attaining a sustainable environment. By employing a unique and comprehensive set of financial development and ICT indicators, this study offers an in-depth analysis of the role of financial development, ICT, and especially their interactions in maintaining environmental sustainability in 30 Asian economies from 2006 to 2020. Results from the two-step system generalized method of moments indicate that separately, both financial development and ICT are detrimental but together, their joint effects are beneficial to the environment. Several policy implications and recommendations are made to help policymakers to craft, design, and implement appropriate policies to improve environmental quality., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

For the first time, this study introduces-proposes using the Armey curve hypothesis (ACH) for testing the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis (EKCH) in the relevant literature. The rationale for this new proposed methodology is that both hypotheses are expected to have similar inverted U-shaped curves. Hence, we combine the aforementioned hypotheses to obtain a single composite model. This single model may allow us to calculate a maximum (optimum) level of government expenditures that will increase or decrease CO 2 emissions for USMCA (the USA-Mexico-Canada Agreement) countries. To this end, our study employs an augmented mean group (AMG) estimator. The results demonstrate that the EKCH is verified by way of the AC model only for Mexico. Additionally, with the advantage of this approach, we calculated the optimal government spending level, which will increase both per capita real GDP (RGDPPC) and CO 2 emissions in this country by around 26.4% of RGDPPC. This level of spending will be a kind of threshold point for the Mexican government's policymakers. Hence, they will know that if they continue to spend more than this level, both the RGDPPC and CO 2 emissions will decrease, implying either a lower RGDPPC or a cleaner environment. The primary purpose of the proposed methodology in this study is to reveal the possible effects of the government's economic growth-oriented increased public expenditures on the environment in a single composite model. In other words, the relationship between economic growth and the environment is approached from the perspective of public spending, and it is reminded that governments should have harmonious and sustainable public spending policies for both economic growth and a cleaner environment., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In view of the increase in environmental degradation and the deterioration of natural resources, a set of previous studies has focused on clean energy sources, especially biomass energy. Although studies on the effects of biomass energy on economic growth have been given increasing attention recently, this research topic remains insufficiently investigated and the results remain inconclusive. Emerging countries, whether or not they are abundant in natural resources, rely heavily on energy sources that promise economic growth while being clean. This study examines the effects of biomass energy and natural resource rents on economic growth in the case of 14 selected emerging countries during the period 1984-2017, by applying a long-term approach and also following an analysis of various effects under different quantiles. The paper is aimed at developing a sustainable growth model by studying the varying economic effects of biomass energy consumption and natural resource rents (NRR) at different scales of economic growth. The purpose of the paper is, therefore, to verify whether biomass energy as a renewable energy can constitute a lever for economic expansion in different economic cycles. Panel quantile regression was used to analyze the varying effects of biomass energy consumption on economic growth, supported by a long-term analysis based on the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) methods. The findings showed that emerging countries did not experience the same effects of biomass energy and natural resource rents on their economic growth. Indeed, the results of the quantile regression support the neutral hypothesis and suggest that biomass energy and natural resource rents do not have positive effects on economic growth whatever the level of economic development of the selected emerging countries. Further analysis revealed that the growth hypothesis is confirmed only for Oil-Rich Emerging Countries (OREC) and for medium and high levels of economic growth. The long-term analysis based on the FMOLS and DOLS techniques also supports the positive effects of biomass energy consumption on economic growth. The findings also indicated that only Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC countries) benefit from positive effects of natural resource rents on economic growth in the long term and for the different quantiles. The originality of this paper lies in its provision of a method for decision makers to reconcile natural resources and biomass energy as a renewable energy source in their economic development strategies based on recorded economic growth., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Green growth refers to the economic growth strategy, which is less detrimental to natural assets, predominantly the environment. Therefore, the main motive of investment and innovation activities should be to attain economic growth while sustainably utilizing natural assets. In this regard, we aim to explore whether ICT diffusion and financial development matter for attaining green economic growth in BRICS economies. The long-run autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) results show that internet development exerts a positive influence on green growth in four BRICS economies excluding India. However, the long-run estimates of mobile cellular subscriptions are positive only in Russia and China. On the other side, the increase in bank credit and insurance premium also contributes to the long-run green economic growth in almost all BRICS economies. Policymakers should focus on the increased use of ICT in the economy that would replace the physical resources in the economy with information resources. Besides, financial services should be provided to individuals and small and medium enterprises involved in green consumption and production activities., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

There is a plethora of studies on the energy-consumption-environmental-quality nexus. Nevertheless, empirical research on the impact of global uncertainties on environmental quality is lacking. This study contributes to the literature by examining the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU), geopolitical risk (GPR), and economic complexity on the ecological footprint and carbon emissions of E7 economies for the period 1995-2018. Our empirical results indicate a long-term relationship between economic complexity, EPU, GPR, energy consumption, and two environmental quality indicators, carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprint. In the long run, a divergence from disequilibrium takes 3 years to return to the equilibrating position. The environmental effects of key determinants are different in terms of direction, magnitude, and time span. Specifically, an inverted U-shape describes the relationship between economic complexity and environmental degradation in the long-term only, which confirms the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The environmental effects of EPU and GPR are harmful in the short run but prove to be beneficial in the long run. Higher energy consumption significantly degrades environment quality as expected. Based on these findings, the paper provides several useful suggestions for policymakers in the context of E7 countries., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

THe importance of the impact of natural resources on economic growth is an important issue with a long history in the energy and environment literature. It is seen that the studies conducted in this field are generally shaped by the "resource curse hypothesis," a hypothesis that highlights the trade-off between economic growth and resource abundance in the growth literature. However, the extant literature have presented inconclusive results. This study aims to examine the direction of causality between capital, energy use, energy imports, exchange rate, natural resources, and per capita income in countries that are rich in natural resources and consist of developing countries (D-8). In this context, first of all, the existence of CD test was determined, and then the stationarity of the variables was determined with the CADF unit root test. Then, whether the slope coefficients of the variables were homogeneous or not, it was decided that they were heterogeneous. Finally, the direction of causality between the variables was examined with the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test applied to heterogeneous panels. The empirical analysis results show a unidirectional causal relationship from capital to GDP per capita and from GDP per capita to energy use. In addition, while a two-way causality relationship was determined between the exchange rate and GDP per capita, no causal relationship was found between energy imports, natural resources, and per capita income. These results have macroeconomic implications and spillover effects on the energy mix of D-8 economies. In addition, no causal relationship was found between natural resources and GDP per capita in this country group and within the scope of the analysis period. Policy recommendations are highlighted in the conclusion., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper studies whether foreign direct investment (FDI)-CO 2 emissions relationship may change depending on the data-driven estimated threshold levels for the country characteristics (CC) including human capital and governance in a sample of 13 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economies during the 1996-2019 period. Our results strongly suggest that endogenously estimated CC thresholds matter for the impact of FDI on CO 2 emissions. The pollution haven hypothesis, which maintains that FDI is associated with higher levels of pollution, appears to be valid for economies with weak CC. In addition to this, the pollution halo argument suggesting FDI lowers the emissions appears to be hold in countries with strong CC. The results in this study may indicate that policies aiming to improve human capital and governance may be expected not only to increase the economic benefits of FDI in terms of growth but also mitigate the negative environmental impacts of FDI in the MENA region., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 agenda hinges on attaining a sustainable environment with the need to "take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts". Hence, this study empirically revisits the debate on the effect of nonrenewable energy and globalization on carbon emissions within the framework of the Kuznets hypothesis using an unbalanced panel data from seven South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) covering 1980-2019. The variables of interest are carbon emissions measured in metric tons per capita, energy use measured as kg of oil equivalent per capita, and globalization index. To address five main objectives, we deploy four techniques: panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE), feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), quantile regression (QR), and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS). For the most part, the findings reveal that the (1) inverted U-shaped energy-Kuznets curve holds; (2) U-shaped globalization-Kuznets curve is evident; (3) inverted U-shaped turning points for nonrenewable energy are 496.03 and 640.84, while for globalization are 38.83 and 39.04, respectively; (4) globalization-emission relationship indicates a U-shaped relationship at the median and 75th quantile; and (5) inverted U-shaped energy-Kuznets holds in Pakistan but a U-shaped nexus prevails in Nepal and Sri Lanka; inverted U-shaped globalization-Kuznets holds in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but U-shaped nexus is evident in Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal. Deductively, our results show that South Asia countries (at early stage of development) are faced with the hazardous substance that deteriorates human health. Moreover, the non-linear square term of the nonrenewable energy-emissions relationship is negative, which validates the inverted U-shaped EKC theory. Overall, the effect of energy and globalization on carbon emissions is opposite while the consistency at the 75th quantile result indicates that countries with intense globalization are prone to environmental degradation., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

This study examines the impact of several important macroeconomic variables such as quality of education, infrastructure development, foreign direct investment inflow, and green energy transitions on economic growth. We analyzed annual time series data sample for estimation of the above macroeconomic indicators during 1990 to 2020. We use nonlinear auto-regressive distributive lag model (NARDL) approach to detect the short-term and long-term effects of undermentioned macroeconomic variables on economic growth of Pakistan. The results primarily reveal that the quality education, foreign direct investment inflow, and infrastructure development are playing a significant positive role in the economic growth of Pakistan. Similarly, in short term the foreign direct investment inflow, infrastructure, and green energy transition coefficients are significantly positive related to sustainable development goals. However, the education found as unsubstantial as contributive as other variables. Moreover, the Granger causality and structural break estimations are employed to estimate the causal association between the selected parameters and unexpected change over the economy. The estimated outcomes find the unidirectional causality from education and green energy transition towards economic growth, where education is found within relation to infrastructure. Additionally, bidirectional causal relationship is found between FDI and infrastructure towards economic growth which shows that the increase in foreign investment has the potential to boost the economic growth. Finally, all the estimated indexes are considered as important sources towards the economic growth., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The environmental situation of our planet is seriously degraded due to the massive spread of greenhouse gases. Several aspects can influence the quality of the environment. The present study debates the effect of financial inclusion (FI) and renewable energy consumption (REC) on the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions of the top ten countries in technological advancement (TTCTA) over the period 2004-2019. Other deterministic factors are included in the empirical study such as real gross domestic product (GDP), non-renewable energy consumption (NREC), and technological advancement (ATECH) to check their influence on environmental indicators. PMG-ARDL approach, cointegration techniques, and Granger causality tests are applied for the empirics part. In the long run, the outcomes show that real GDP, REC, and technological advancement contribute to decreasing CO 2 emissions, while NREC and FI contribute to increasing emissions levels. In the short run, only GDP and NREC significantly deteriorate the environmental quality. Granger shows a long-run bidirectional causality between CO 2 emissions, economic growth, REC, NREC, and ATECH., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study analyzes the effects of transportation infrastructure on carbon emissions (CE) based on the level of urban economic agglomeration. For this purpose, 281 Chinese cities are considered during the period 2003-2017. A Moran's I index is used to assess the spatial distribution characteristics of transportation infrastructure and CE. In addition, a spatial Durbin model is employed to explore the spatial spillover effect of transportation infrastructure on CE. Furthermore, economic agglomeration is considered as a crucial transmission mechanism. The empirical results show that (1) a significant spatial autocorrelation exists between transportation infrastructure and CE. (2) Transportation infrastructure significantly aggravates CE, with the "neighboring effect" being surprisingly more potent than the "local effect." (3) Economic agglomeration is a valid transmission channel through which transportation infrastructure affects CE, the intensity of which varies with the level of economic agglomeration. Our recommendation is that policy-makers should pay attention to the development of local transportation, as well as their neighboring cities, and should accelerate the advancement of green transportation., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Pulp and paper mill sludge (PPMS) is applied on agricultural soils as an organic fertilizer. Although it is well accepted that land application of PPMS has benefits for soils and crops, information on PPMS-induced soil N 2 O emissions is still limited. We assessed the effect of substituting mineral N fertilizer for PPMS on soil N 2 O emissions after a single application at planting on a clay loam cropped to wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) over two snow-free seasons in eastern Canada. Fertilization treatments consisted of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% of crop N requirements derived from N supplied by PPMS, the remaining N being supplied as urea-N. Soil CO 2 and CH 4 emissions were also measured and not affected by the fertilizer addition; a slight CH 4 oxidation occurred. Area-based N 2 O emissions from PPMS fertilization (4.4 to 12.1 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 ) were similar or higher than from urea alone (3.4 and 6.2 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 ). Although crop yields were not affected by the type of fertilizer, yield-based N 2 O emissions, N uptake efficiency and N surplus (applied N minus aboveground N uptake in crop biomass) indicated that N availability from the mineral fertilizer was higher than from PPMS for the wheat crop. However, treatments with PPMS had fertilizer-induced N 2 O emission factors (FIEF, applied N lost as N 2 O-N; 0.8 to 3.1%) similar to urea alone (−0.3 and 4.5%). Although substituting urea-N with PPMS in agricultural fields might reduce N 2 O emissions under moderate soil moisture conditions, PPMS land application produced greater N 2 O emissions under high soil moisture conditions. Further research on a variety of agricultural practices is needed before concluding that including PPMS in the fertilization plan could result in a global GHG abatement as compared to mineral fertilizers under the cool climate of eastern Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilization of the quality-upgraded waste paper in the manufacture of paper and board will reduce the wood consumption and pulping energy. While the optical property of the fibers from recycled old newspaper is very poor, in-situ calcium carbonate formation on those fibers by injecting carbon dioxide to the mixed slurry of those pulp and calcium oxide improved their brightness. Upgrading recycled old newspaper to substitute more expensive wood furnish, such as recycled old magazine, was successfully demonstrated in the present study. This study showed that the in-situ calcium carbonate formation process improved the optical quality of the recycled old newspaper by covering colored impurities with newly formed calcium carbonate, and improved calcium carbonate retention in papermaking process by attaching them to fibers. The strength reduction by the presence of newly formed calcium carbonate in the paper was recovered by adding strength agent. High ash retention at high ash content under the strong turbulence in the modern paper mill was achieved by the application of the in-situ calcium carbonate formation method. The quality-upgrade of recycled fibers and cost saving in the manufacture of duplex paperboard were demonstrated in the mill trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Sizing of paper is carried out using liquid CO 2 as an alternative medium. • Sucrose Octaacetate (SOA) is used as a CO 2 -philic and renewable size compound. • The method is inherently dry and industrially viable. • The SOA-coated surface shows reduced optical reflectance. • The sized paper shows enhanced non-wetting nature and improved mechanical properties. Abstract The development of low cost, non-fluorous, CO 2 -philic materials such as sugar acetates have opened up new opportunities for enabling the utilization of liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2) as a green solvent platform for industrial processes by virtue of the high solubility of these materials in CO 2. In the present work, we report the sizing of paper surface with sucrose octaacetate (SOA) using this alternative solvent system. Characterization of the bare and sized paper samples has been carried out using spectroscopic and surface imaging techniques. The studies reveal a smooth and uniform coating of the surface with SOA. Contact angle measurements and sorption studies show that the SOA-coated paper surface is hydrophobic. The mechanical properties of the SOA-coated paper are observed to be superior to that of the uncoated one. Since the solvent and the size can be completely recycled, this can be developed into an industrially viable green technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A scalable papermaking process was employed herein to manufacture cellulosic papers from native and phosphorylated cellulose microfibers (referred to as CMF and PCMF, respectively) impregnated with polyethyleneimine (PEI) for Direct Air Capture (DAC) applications. These papers were analyzed in terms of their physico-chemical properties using several techniques. The impact of PEI content on desorbing the co-adsorbed H 2 O and CO 2 from the air, as well as on the anisotropic microporous network, was explicitly analyzed. The results indicated that phosphorylation promotes the uptake of both CO 2 and H 2 O in the corresponding neat and PEI-loaded papers, reaching a superior CO 2 adsorption capacity of ∼0.7–0.9 mmol.g−1 for PCMF papers versus 0.07–0.3 mmol.g−1 for CMF papers. Furthermore, the CMF and PCMF papers exhibited H 2 O adsorption capacities in the range of 1.5–1.8 mmol.g−1 and 2.2–3.8 mmol.g−1, respectively. This work further highlights the combined role of phosphorylation and favorable PEI impregnation in tuning the cellulose CO 2 adsorption properties under humid conditions, facilitating the rapid release of the adsorbed CO 2 under mid conditions. [Display omitted] • Manufacturing of scalable solid cellulosic papers with amine functionalities and enhanced carbon capture. • Microstructural and chemical characterization of amine functionalized paper with various amine ratios. • Valorization of Alfa biomass in Carbon capture applications. • The combined role of phosphorylation and PEI impregnation in tuning the H 2 O and CO 2 co-adsorption properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid calcium carbonate (HCC) is prepared by pre-flocculating calcium oxide and ground calcium carbonate (GCC) with ionic polymers, and by injecting carbon dioxide to the pre-flocculated flocs until termination of the reaction at neutral pH. When used in papermaking, HCC gave higher bulk, higher stiffness, and higher tensile strength than GCC did. Furthermore, when higher wet pressing pressure was applied to the paper containing HCC, higher solid content was achieved with still better stiffness, smoothness, and tensile strength in comparison with the paper containing GCC. Actually, very high bulk of the HCC containing paper was compromisingly reduced to obtain high solid content by applying higher wet pressing pressure. Higher solid content achieved by combination of HCC technology and higher wet pressing pressure resulted in paper drying energy savings of more than 10%, while a high quality of all the essential printing paper properties was maintained. Drying energy savings may contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction and lowering of the paper production cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is strong scientific evidence to suggest that carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions are one of the key drivers of global warming. Rising CO 2 emissions across the globe have been traced back to increasing global trade and rapid industrial development powered by fossil fuels. High CO 2 emissions have had an adverse effect on the quality of life and economic growth of communities across the globe. In this study, the Granger causality approach is used to examine scientifically some causal relationships between energy consumption, CO 2 emissions, economic growth, and key macroeconomic variables (trade openness and foreign direct investment) in the panel of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) countries. FATF countries are signatories to agreements to adhere to good financial practices to ensure sustainable development of their economies. The empirical analysis was conducted for the period 1980 to 2020. Results indicate a strong endogenous relationship between the variables in the short and long run. The analysis suggests that careful co-curation of economic, trade, energy, foreign direct investment, and environmental management policies is needed to ensure sustainable economic development in the FATF countries. Global trade and foreign direct investment policies must foster new environmental-friendly industries and greater use of clean renewable energy among these countries. Note: Arrows indicate direction of possible causal links between the variables., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Americas have a mix of developing and developed economies. Thus, the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) is expected in the developing countries of Latin America. Using the spatial Durbin model, the present study investigates the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI), exports, and imports on emissions in 18 Latin American countries from 1970 to 2019, including economic growth and the financial market development (FMD) in the model. The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is validated, and the region is found in the first stage of the EKC. Hence, Latin American economic growth has environmental consequences. Exports have a positive impact on home and neighboring countries' CO 2 emissions and pollute the whole region, which validates the PHH. Imports could not affect the home economies but have positive environmental effects on neighboring economies and the entire Latin American region. The negative coefficient of imports is larger than the positive coefficient of exports. Therefore, the net effect of trade is environmentally pleasant in Latin America. Moreover, FDI has a statistically insignificant effect and the impact of FMD is positive on CO 2 emissions. The study recommends caring the exporting, financial, and economic activities for a sustainable environment in Latin America., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from developed to developing countries may increase carbon emissions in developing countries as developing countries are seen as pollution havens due to their lenient environmental regulations. On the other hand, FDI flows from the developed world may improve management practices and advanced technologies in developing countries, and an increase in FDI flows reduces carbon emissions. Most of the existing studies examine the relationship between FDI flows and carbon emissions by using aggregate FDI flows; however, this paper contributes to the literature by analyzing the impact of FDI flows on carbon emissions in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) between 1993 and 2012 using bilateral FDI flows from eleven OECD countries. According to our empirical results, from which OECD country FDI flows to BRICS countries matters for carbon emissions in BRICS countries. Our results confirm that FDI flows to BRICS countries from Denmark and the UK increase carbon emissions in BRICS countries, confirming the pollution haven hypothesis. On the other hand, FDI that flows from France, Germany, and Italy reduced carbon emissions in the BRICS countries, confirming the pollution halo effect. FDI flows from Austria, Finland, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland have no significant impact on carbon emissions in BRICS countries. The BRICS countries should promote clean FDI flows by reducing environmental damages, and investing countries should be rated based on their environmental damage in the host countries., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Climate action got attention from the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although a large number of studies are investigating the said phenomenon, however, the literature on the top five responsible countries is unable to evaluate the role of environment-related technologies (ERTs) and institutional quality (IQ). The top five consumption-based carbon dioxide (CBCO 2 ) emitting economies, i.e., China, India, Japan, Russia, and the USA, are considerable stakeholders in this challenge. To fill this void, with the latest data available from 1992 to 2017, short- and long-run relationships are estimated with dynamic common correlated effects estimator and augmented mean group in the framework of EKC hypothesis. Reported results indicate the negative effect of ERTs and IQ towards CBCO 2 , which means that adoption of ERTs and better IQ is supportive in controlling environmental degradation. Findings are also robust to the policy implications for the UN's SDGs., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper empirically examines the effects of energy, natural resources, agriculture, political constraint and regional integration on CO 2 emissions in four ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries of Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. We distinguish between renewable and fossil fuel energy consumption to see their individual impacts on CO 2 emissions. The study employed a panel data from 1990 to 2019 derived from sources such as World Development Indicators, which were then analysed using Common-Correlated Effect Mean Group (CCEMG) and Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimates. The findings show that renewable energy consumption has a negative impact on CO 2 emissions while fossil fuel energy degrades the environment. The role of natural resources was found to be favourable for environmental quality with the impact of agriculture being found to be detrimental. For regional trade integration, its influence was not significant enough to offset CO 2 emission. Furthermore, we discovered that political constraint induces CO 2 emission. Based on the result, it is recommended that the selected ASEAN countries promote the use of renewable energy and clean technologies in their manufacturing processes, conserve natural resources, adopt eco-friendly political policies and intensify regional integration to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In the recent era, economic growth is not enough to represent sustainable development. Sustainable development has three dimensions (i.e., economic, social, and environment). This study estimated the economic, social, and environmental efficiency using data from 2000 to 2021. Input-oriented data envelopment analysis shows strong heterogeneity across developed (G-8) and developing countries (SAARC). There is a potential to increase economic and environmental efficiency in the G-8 and SAARC countries. The average economic efficiencies are 0.682 and 0.414, which implies the possibility of the same output (GDP/capita) by using 31.8% and 58.6% fewer inputs in G-8 and SAARC countries, respectively. The social efficiency score is more than 0.980 in both panels. The average environmental efficiencies are 0.712 and 0.724, which implies that selected countries can obtain the same output (CO 2 emission reduction) by using 28.8% and 27.6% fewer inputs in G-8 and SAARC countries, respectively. The top three economically efficient countries are (a) the USA, the UK, and Japan in the G-8 panel and (b) Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan in the SAARC panel. The top three environmentally efficient countries are (a) France, the UK, and Italy in the G-8 panel and (b) Afghanistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh in the SAARC panel. It is recommended to adopt suitable policies to reduce emission, minimize waste, efficient utilization of resources, increase forest cover, and incentive for clean technologies. It is suggested to promote renewable energy through the provision of micro-credit to the poor, subsidizing renewable energy technologies, implementation of stringent environmental policies, and increasing awareness. It is essential to invest in eco-friendly and innovative technologies; thus, the government should encourage green practices in production. Human development is recommended to increase the living standard and healthy life. The government should invest in the health system and conduct seminars on general health awareness. Investment in basic infrastructure (drinking water, sanitation, and clean fuel) is essential to increase the living standard. The G-8 countries should provide financial and technological help to the SAARC countries., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study analyzes material footprint (MF), which can be essential in achieving net zero emission targets and sustainable development goals for EURO-26 countries. Increasing the efficiency of MF rather than domestic material consumption is more effective in reducing emissions. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between MF, economic growth, and CO 2 emissions for EURO-26 countries. For empirical analysis, second-generation panel cointegration tests and long-term coefficient estimators, which consider the cross-sectional dependence, are employed. The empirical results indicate that (i) there is a long-term relationship between the variables and (ii) MF increases the CO 2 emissions. However, the positive relationship between economic growth and CO 2 emissions is statistically insignificant. According to the individual results, while the impact of MF on CO 2 emissions is negative in developed countries, MF increases CO 2 emissions in developing countries in general. Overall findings reveal that long-term material footprint strategies should be implemented in EURO-26 countries and material footprint policies can be used as a strategic tool to achieve net zero emission targets and sustainable development goals (SDGs)., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The effects of renewable energy, tourism, foreign direct investment, and income on environmental degradation have attracted the attention of many researchers, but to date, no researcher has examined the concurrent effects of these variables on CO 2 emissions for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Motivated by this gap in the literature, this study aims to analyze the determinants of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for six ASEAN countries. To this end, the study utilizes the panel ARDL estimator and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test from 1995 to 2018. The results show that (i) tourism and foreign direct investment increase CO 2 emissions. (ii) Real income and trade openness reduce environmental degradation. (iii) Since the long-run income elasticity is lower than the short-run, the EKC hypothesis is valid. (iv) Renewable energy reduces carbon emissions only in the short term and has no effect on environmental quality in the long term. There is also no causal relationship between renewable energy and environmental degradation. This could be due to the ineffective deployment of renewable energy in ASEAN countries. Based on these results, this study suggests that ASEAN countries should effectively use renewable energy, reduce the amount of fossil energy in the tourism sector, and support economic development to achieve a sustainable environment., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

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' CO 2 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 CO 2 emissions of B&R countries. In short, government departments should formulate low-carbon technology policies according to the technology impact path and regional characteristics., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study empirically tests whether there is evidence of convergence in ecological footprint among 189 countries for the period 1990-2017. Using the novel log (t) regression model that accommodates likely transitional heterogeneity in the panel, the results provide evidence for the divergence of ecological footprint (EF) for the world sample. A similar empirical outcome was obtained for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Europe and Central Asia (ECA), East Asia and Pacific (EAP), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Nevertheless, the study found three convergence clubs for the world sample, SSA, ECA, and LAC, while two clubs were found for EAC and MENA. Further empirical results from the ordered logit and probit model suggest initial EF and natural resource utilization are the most critical driver of club membership in SSA. Since we established three club formations, the study recommends different environmental protection policies should be adopted for the countries in these convergence clubs. It is also important for SSA governments to implement strong environmental regulations in respect of the exploitation of resources., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Coal has long remained a promising and widely used energy resource all over the world. Special emphasis is usually put on the research and development of environmentally friendly technologies for the use of coal and coal processing waste. The development of slurry fuels based on coal waste is one of the promising ways to use raw materials with energy potential, recover wastes, and reduce the environmental load. However, no combustion technology has yet been created for heterogeneous wastes as water-based slurries. The physical principles and parameters of the corresponding processes have not been studied adequately. In this research, the environmental combustion indicators (CO 2 , CO, H 2 , NO x , and SO 2 concentrations) of slurries based on water and petrochemical, coal, and plant wastes were analyzed for the first time in a wide range of temperatures covering all the typical stages of thermochemical fuel conversion: pyrolysis (400-700 °C), gasification (700-900 °C), and combustion (700-1000 °C). We established the key patterns and aspects of changes in gas concentrations at all the main stages during the thermal decomposition of fuels. The use of water-based fuels at the pyrolysis stage was notable for up to 96% higher concentrations of the key combustible gases (CO, H 2 ). The temperature extrema were 50-100 °C lower than those of bituminous coal. In terms of the key anthropogenic emissions (CO 2 , NO x , and SO 2 ), the combustion of slurries also appeared to be 20-77% more environmentally friendly than that of coal depending on the temperature conditions and fuel composition. The maximum positive effect from adding biomass to coal-water slurries was achieved in the temperature range of 850 to 1000 °C. The research findings can be used for developing the technologies for thermal recovery of waste as water slurries, in particular, by intensifying the pyrolysis, gasification, and combustion., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)