• Energy Research
• Closed Access close
• 13. Climate action close
• 1. No poverty close
• 3. Good health close
• PK close

Purpose This study aims to consider environmental sustainability, a global challenge under the preview of sustainable development goals, highlighting the significance of knowledge economy in attaining sustainable aggregate demand behavior globally. For this purpose, 155 countries that have data available from 1995 to 2021 were selected. The purpose of selecting these countries is to test the global responsibility of the knowledge economy to attain environmental sustainability. Design/methodology/approach Results are estimated with the help of panel quantile regression. The empirical existence of aggregate demand-based environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) was tested using non-linear tests. Moreover, principal component analysis has been incorporated to construct the knowledge economy index. Findings U-shaped aggregate demand-based EKC at global level is validated. However, environmental deterioration increases with an additional escalation after US$497.945m in aggregate demand. As a determinant, the knowledge economy is reducing CO2 emissions. The knowledge economy has played a significant role in global responsibility, shifting the EKC downward and extending the CO2 reduction phase for every selected country. Further, urbanization, energy intensity, financial development and trade openness significantly deteriorate the environmental quality. Originality/value This study contains the empirical existence of aggregate demand-based EKC. The role of the knowledge economy is examined through an index which is calculated by using four pillars of the knowledge economy (technology, innovations, education and institutions). This study is based on a combined panel of all the countries for which the data was available.

Abstract Energy poverty has evolved as an important issue of research from academic and policy perspectives during the last two decades. The energy poverty estimates exhibit widespread variations across regions, methodologies and datasets, making the task of energy and development policies challenging. The variations in energy poverty estimates necessitate a systematic and rigorous analysis of these empirical studies to obtain a true measure of energy poverty. The present study conducts a meta-analysis of 30 studies and 103 estimates of energy poverty. On average, 71.1 percent of the population in the overall sample studies has been identified as energy poor. High I-square statistic values suggest heterogeneity bias in the sample studies; therefore, analysis at the subgroup level has been conducted. Meta-regression analysis of overall sample and subgroups has identified type of methodology, citations, impact factor of the journal, regional dummies, average key crude oil price and gross domestic product as significant factors that explain heterogeneity in the energy poverty effect sizes. We recommend inclusion of local and regional factors in assessment of energy poverty for developing a uniform methodology to assess energy poverty across developing economies.

As an effective emission reduction approach, CO2 capture and storage (CCS) combined with enhanced water recovery (EWR) technology can not only reduce CO2 emissions, but can also recover deep saline water resources to relieve pressure on regional water resources, and can ensure the energy supply and both social and economic development. However, the environmental benefits and application costs of CCS-EWR are uncertain, and are determined by the technology level, geological conditions, and other physical factors. In this study, an optimal source-sink matching model and a techno-economic assessment model were developed to evaluate the contributions of CCS-EWR to carbon emission reduction and the increase of the water supply by considering various uncertain factors, as well as the corresponding costs. In addition, the Yellow River Basin (YRB) in China was selected as the research region because, while there are abundant coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) in the YRB, the water resources are scarce. The results revealed the following. (1) The maximum CO2 capture capacity of the 236 CFPPs in the YRB is about 738.77 Mt/a, and nearly 13.14 Gt of fresh water could be provided until the 236 CFPPs in the YRB retire, which can partially relieve the pressure on the supply of water resources. (2) With the consideration of the CCS-EWR benefits, the average cost of the 236 CFPPs in the YRB in their residual lifetime to reduce their CO2 emissions by 90% will be no more than 180 CNY/t. (3) The incentive effect of the increase of the industrial water price on the profits of CCS-EWR projects is not significant. CCS-EWR technology has better application prospects in China under the dual constraints of carbon-neutral targets and water shortages, and more policy support is required for its deployment.

One of the major environmental problems is the fast accumulation of brick kiln emissions near the peripheries of almost all urban centers. An enormous quantity of substandard coal, wood, rubber tires, or saw wood is used as fuel in these brick kilns, creating environmental pollution through carbon and heavy metals present in the emissions. The present study was designed to determine the distribution pattern of heavy metals in a soil-water-plant system under the influence of brick kiln emissions. Ash, soil (0-15 cm), water, and plant samples were collected from the adjacent areas of the brick kilns. Geo-accumulation index and contamination factors were used to assess the toxicity of metals to soil and plants. It was found that the concentrations of Cd in water, soil, coal, and plant samples were found in the range of 0.004-0.024 mg L-1, 0.02-0.66, 0.002-0.042, and 0.06 to 0.07 mg kg-1, respectively, while Pb concentration was found within the range of 0-0.08 mg L-1, 0.30-8.60, 0.011-0, and 0.01-0.08 mg kg-1 in water, soil, and plant samples, respectively. The concentration of Cd in brick kilns ash was in the range of 0-0.04 mg kg-1 while Pb was found within the range of 0.01-0.05 mg kg-1 for ash. Geo-accumulation index and contamination factor values for Cd were found higher suggesting proper pollution prevention measures to be implemented. Based on the results, it was concluded that Cd concentrations in soil, plants, and water samples were higher in the subject area due to brick kiln emissions and higher Cd concentrations in the fuel material.

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.

A key factor in social development and sustainable urban expansion is the establishment of sustainable and affordable transport systems. This study aims to investigate the impact of transport infrastructure investment on environmental degradation and economic growth and to test the validity of the EKC hypothesis in China, India, Russia, and Japan over the period 1995-2020. The results show that GDP has a significant positive effect, and GDP2 and GDP3 have significant adverse effects on environmental degradation, respectively. These results confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in selected emerging Asian economies. Rail infrastructure investment has significant adverse effects, while road infrastructure investment and aviation infrastructure investment have significant positive effects on environmental degradation. Likewise, the impact of investment in transport infrastructure system (roads, rail, and aviation) on economic growth is positive and statistically significant. Country-level estimates confirm the validity of the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in China, India, and Russia, while the N-shaped EKC is only valid in Japan. Investments in rail infrastructure based on modern rail systems that run on electricity are believed to be less polluting in the transport mix, help create sustainable and safe transport systems, and reduce emissions at the urban and intercity levels in emerging Asian countries. In addition, the growing impact of free trade on environmental pollution should be strengthened to harmonize the strict enforcement of environmental conditions dominated by trade agreements.

Environmental quality indicators are crucial for responsive and cost-effective policies. The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between environmental quality indicators and financial development in Malaysia. For this purpose, the number of environmental quality indicators has been used, i.e., air pollution measured by carbon dioxide emissions, population density per square kilometer of land area, agricultural production measured by cereal production and livestock production, and energy resources considered by energy use and fossil fuel energy consumption, which placed an impact on the financial development of the country. The study used four main financial indicators, i.e., broad money supply (M2), domestic credit provided by the financial sector (DCFS), domestic credit to the private sector (DCPC), and inflation (CPI), which each financial indicator separately estimated with the environmental quality indicators, over a period of 1975-2013. The study used the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to minimize the simultaneity from the model. The results show that carbon dioxide emissions exert the positive correlation with the M2, DCFC, and DCPC, while there is a negative correlation with the CPI. However, these results have been evaporated from the GMM estimates, where carbon emissions have no significant relationship with any of the four financial indicators in Malaysia. The GMM results show that population density has a negative relationship with the all four financial indicators; however, in case of M2, this relationship is insignificant to explain their result. Cereal production has a positive relationship with the DCPC, while there is a negative relationship with the CPI. Livestock production exerts the positive relationship with the all four financial indicators; however, this relationship with the CPI has a more elastic relationship, while the remaining relationship is less elastic with the three financial indicators in a country. Energy resources comprise energy use and fossil fuel energy consumption, both have distinct results with the financial indicators, as energy demand have a positive and significant relationship with the DCFC, DCPC, and CPI, while fossil fuel energy consumption have a negative relationship with these three financial indicators. The results of the study are of value to both environmentalists and policy makers.

This article is a literature review of use of biodiesel fuel for compression ignition engines. This study is based on the reports of about 50 scientists including (some manufacturers and agencies) who published their results between 1900 and 2005. The scientists and researchers conducted the test, using different types of raw and refined oils. These experiments with raw biodiesel as fuel did not show the satisfactory results, when they used the raw biodiesel. The fuel showed injector coking and piston ring sticking. Some of the scientists mixed with methanol or ethanol in presence of KOH or NaOH and then filtered and washed. The process is called transeterfication and is used to degum, dewax and to remove triglycerides from the vegetable oils. Transeterfication decreases the viscosity, density and flash point of the fuel. The results obtained, by using such oils in compression ignition engines as fuel, were satisfactory only for short term. A vast majority of scientists mixed the transesterified biodiesel oil with diesel with different ratios. When tested in long run, blends of the oil above 20% (B20) caused maintenance problems and even sometimes damaged the engine. Some authors reported success in using vegetable oils as diesel fuel extenders in blends of more than 20% even in long-term studies. The main conclusion derived by the researchers is that coking is a potentially serious problem with the use of unmodified vegetable biodiesel. However, the refined, chemically processed and degumed vegetable oil mixed with diesel can be used to run compression ignition engine for longer duration. It was reported that there was a slight decrease in brake power and a slight increase in fuel consumption. However, the lubricant properties of the biodiesel are better than diesel, which can help to increase the engine life. Moreover, the biodiesel fuel is environment friendly, produces much less NOx and HC and absolutely no Sox and no increase in CO2 at global level.

Abstract Tilt angle of photovoltaic (PV) panel strongly contributes to the amount of solar radiation harvested by the PV panel. In this paper, we model the optimal PV tilt angle for Lahore and some of the other major cities in Pakistan using the available solar radiation data from NREL and ESMAP. The model is used to propose an optimal schedule for PV tilt in Lahore involving four adjustments in a year that can provide ∼6.6% increase in the yearly energy generation relative to a fixed tilt. The model is validated with PV tilt experiments. Moreover, a simple model is developed to estimate the upper/lower bounds of soiling losses in Lahore using the reported distributions for aerosol particulates. We show that the power loss due to soiling could be up to 10% for a lightly soiled panel and could go up to 40% for a heavily soiled panel. We further explore the tilt angle effect on the soiling losses in Lahore by doing soiling experiments. For a period of 100 days, dust deposition on a horizontal panel results in 26.2% energy loss as compared to a clean panel. For the same period, the corresponding loss for a vertical tilt was 13.5%. The variability of soiling effects with respect to tilt is used to predict an optimal tilt angle when the soiling losses are significant. These findings provide important insights into the protocols of tilt adjustments in presence of environmental dust for PV systems in Pakistan and further highlight the significance of soiling losses for the typical aerosol conditions in Lahore.

Abstract The transportation and electricity sectors are in the midst of leading changes in the endeavor to mitigate climate change and air pollution issues. In future years, traditional fossil-fuelled vehicles are estimated to be substituted with electric vehicles (EVs), resulting in higher electricity demand from the transport sector. Meanwhile, the electricity sector is transforming due to policies to adopt renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, and hydropower in the future. However, there are still societal concerns regarding the environmental benefits of these vehicle technologies and how new energy options and vehicles benefit the 2050 HK Carbon Neutral Plan. To address these concerns, this paper aims to analyse the environmental burdens of current (2019) and future (2050) vehicle scenarios in Hong Kong using a life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA was performed for internal combustion vehicles (ICEVs) fuelled by diesel and petrol and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and EVs with future electricity energy mix scenarios (2025–2050). The results revealed that EVs with the 2050 HK electricity mix are an optimal choice and have the least environmental impact in selected impact categories. Additionally, PHEV with diesel were the second most optimal choice to reduce the environmental impacts in current scenarios. In contrast, the petrol ICEV has the utmost environmental impacts in all damage category results. The study shows that clean energy could decrease the environmental impact and mitigate climate change in Hong Kong.