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Abstract This study focuses on the development of a strategic framework for the design of a hydrogen supply chain network (HSCN) mainly investigating the potential of industrial decarbonization and multi-sectors integration (i.e., transportation, energy, shipping) via green hydrogen economy. The problem was formulated as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) and solved in GAMS/ IBM ILOG CPLEX 30.3.0 solver. The applicability of the developed model was demonstrated using a base case Eco-industrial city consisting of 10 diverse industrial portfolios targeting decarbonization by 5%. The solution was able to find the optimal HSCN from the probable superstructure along with the optimal sizing of green hydrogen production (453.03 MM kg/y), optimal water sources, optimal sinks and the optimal amount of byproducts generation. Furthermore, the multi-purpose model can accomplish detailed techno-economic-environmental analysis for variable scenarios (e.g., variation in decarbonization target, liquid hydrogen demand, hydrogen production cost, earnings from byproducts) based on net present value.

In the recently identified pandemic of COVID-19, most countries have stopped their work, industrial activities, businesses and education activities. This pandemic also had a great impact on energy and environment research, which is a vital component in the transition to sustainable development. In response to this pandemic, Qatar had to stop all kinds of on-site education activities and shifted to virtual learning techniques (or distance learning). Using distant learning has a potential impact on the quality of education and research activities, especially energy and environment research. So, to assess the effectiveness of virtual learning in this pandemic time in Qatar, a structured survey is conducted for university students and staff to assess their perception about distant learning. The survey revealed that virtual learning overall had a positive impact, but it can affect the quality and the progress of education in the country.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of government support for the business survival of SME restaurants in Indonesia. In this study, we analyzed the impact of government support on the innovation of SME restaurants as well as the impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on innovation. Furthermore, this study analyzed the impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and innovation on business survival. A total of 120 owners or managers of SME restaurants participated in this study. The sample was collected based on a purposive method. To analyze the relationship among latent variables, we implemented structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that government support has a positive impact on business survival through marketing and process innovation. In addition, the business survival of SMEs is affected by marketing innovation, process innovation, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. In this study, the entrepreneurial factor had the highest impact on SMEs’ survival. This study established the body of knowledge related to the positive effect of government support on innovation in the perspective of small and medium-sized restaurants in the emerging market countries and developed a model of business survival of SMEs during pandemic crises by integrating external factors (government support) and an internal factor (entrepreneurial self-efficacy) through marketing and process innovation in the food processing industry.

To this day, there is a dearth of published research on environmental awareness, attitudes and behaviour in the Arabian Gulf, and there is no systematic data regarding the value people place on the environment. Understanding the operating social and political context, community values, and potential incentives in the face of environmental change is crucial for designing appropriate intervention measures and informing environmental policy of the region (Moran, 2010; Schultz & Kaiser, 2012). By narrowing the focus down to university-educated youth in Qatar, this paper aims to bridge the gap between reported environmental attitudes and actual behaviour by evaluating different factors that could motivate the younger generation to become more involved in Qatar's environmental conservation efforts and lead to a more sustainable social and economic growth. Ajzen's (1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is employed as the main conceptual framework, hypothesising attitudes, perceived behavioural control and social norms as predictive of pro-environmental behaviour. For the purposes of this study, the model was expanded to consider childhood activities in nature, education, and proximity to an environmental issue as additional factors that are deemed relevant for predicting pro-environmental behaviour. To test the hypothesised correlation between the different factors and environmental behaviour, a close-ended questionnaire was administered to 299 Qatar University undergraduate students in May 2016, with series of questions regarding their time spent in nature, environmental attitudes, social pressure to behave pro-environmentally and whether they feel in control over their actions. Statistical analyses of the gathered data revealed partial applicability of the theoretical model for understanding environmental behaviour, with several factors of the original TPB model (namely attitudes, positive social norms and internal locus of control) as well as supplementary factors (childhood time in nature and university-level education) emerging as significant predictors of pro-environmental behaviour. In addition, analysis of open-ended questions revealed religion and governmental incentives as additional factors that have the potential to motivate students into more pro-environmental behaviour. A general lack of awareness was reported by the respondents, who often blamed ignorance for people's unwillingness to act more pro-environmentally in their daily lives. Although the respondents held overwhelmingly pro-environmental attitudes, their willingness to engage in pro-environmental behaviour was not as evident, due to several factors at play. The paper concludes by suggesting ways how those factors can be utilised to help shape the environmental behaviour of younger generations; however, it also warns that only by bridging the gulf between academic research and policy-making can the gulf between stated environmental values and actual behaviour be truly overpassed.

The efficient planning, execution, and management of institutional frameworks for climate change adaptation are essential to sustainable development. India, in particular, is known to be disproportionately vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. This study examines the effects of environmental taxes, corruption, urbanization, economic growth, ecological risks, and renewable energy sources on CO2 emissions in India from 1978 to 2018. Therefore, the ARDL model is used to draw inferences, and Pairwise Granger causality is also applied to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship. The empirical results show that corruption, environmental dangers, GDP, and urbanization positively influence India’s carbon emissions. However, the results of short-run elasticities show that carbon emissions reduce ecological sustainability. Environmental hazards and costs, like other countries, impact India’s carbon emissions. Therefore, decision-makers in India should set up strict environmental regulations and anti-corruption measures to combat unfair practice that distorts competition laws and policies. In addition, the government concentrates more on energy efficiency policies that diminish carbon emissions without hampering economic growth in the country.

Universal energy access in developing countries is a key ingredient to achieve sustainable economic growth and social welfare. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for policymakers to identify potential new factors to mitigate energy poverty. In this study, we investigate the effects of workers' remittances on energy poverty in 109 developing countries from 2000 to 2019 using panel fixed and random effects as well as the system generalized method of moment and Lewbel (2012) estimators to address potential endogeneity problems. We demonstrate that remittances can be effectively used to alleviate energy poverty in low and middle-income countries. Moreover, we find that income poverty, human development, institutional quality, and income inequality are important mediating channels through which remittances affect energy poverty. Our results also indicate that improved financial development and increased urbanization tend to enhance energy access. Based on our findings, several recommendations are provided to governments and policymakers for achieving sustainable development goal target 7.1, which aims to guarantee affordable, reliable, and modern energy services for all.

Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 will require tackling both energy-related and non-energy-related GHG emissions, which can be achieved through the transition to a circular economy (CE). The focus of climate change crisis reversal has been on the energy-related continuum over the years through promoting renewable energy uptake and efficiency in energy use. Clean energy transition and efficiency gains in energy use alone will not be sufficient to achieve net-zero emissions in 2050 without paying attention to non-energy-related CO2 emissions. This study systematically reviews the CE literature across different themes, sectors, approaches, and tools to identify accelerators in transitioning to a CE. The study aims to understand and explore how technology, finance, ecosystem, and behavioral studies in the CE paradigm can be integrated as a decision-making tool for CE transition. The material analysis was carried out by identifying the main characteristics of the literature on CE implementation in the agriculture, industry, energy, water, and tourism sectors. Results of the literature survey are synthesized to engender clarity in the literature and identify research gaps to inform future research. Findings show that many studies focused on technology as an accelerator for CE transition, and more studies are needed regarding the CE ecosystem, financing, and behavioral aspects. Also, results show that CE principles are applied at the micro-, meso-, and macro- (national, regional, and global) levels across sectors with the dominance of the industrial sector. The agriculture, water, and energy sectors are at the initial stages of implementation. Additionally, the use of carbon capture and utilization or storage, conceptualized as a circular carbon economy, needs attention in tackling CE implementation in the energy sector, especially in hydrocarbon-endowed economies. The major implication of these findings is that for CE to contribute to accelerated net-zero emission by 2050, coordinated policies should be promoted to influence the amount of financing available to innovative circular businesses and technologies within an ecosystem that engenders behavioral change towards circularity.

This paper aims to contribute to the longstanding technology-push vs. demand-pull debate and to the literature on renewable energy policy assessment. We argue that in addition to the traditional push–pull dichotomy, the drivers of technological change must be differentiated by whether they are exogenous or endogenous to the economic system and must be assessed with respect to their contribution to both the creation and the diffusion of innovation. We apply this perspective to study innovation in the renewable energy (RE) industry in 15 European Union countries from 1990 to 2012. Using different panel data estimators, we find that public R&D investments, policies supporting RE and per capita income all have a positive effect on either innovation creation or diffusion, whereas the variability of policy support has a negative impact on diffusion. However, impacts are heterogeneous and differ depending on the innovation dimension considered. Most importantly, we find that economic growth is a stronger driver of RE diffusion than technology-push or exogenous demand-pull mechanisms, whereas it is relatively ineffective at stimulating innovation creation. The effect of economic growth on RE diffusion exhibits a nonlinear, U-shaped pattern that resonates with the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. RE penetration remains negligible at low levels of growth whereas it increases sharply only after income per capita has reached a given threshold. This effect has both a direct cause (with increased affluence demand for environmental quality rises) and an indirect cause (with increased affluence expensive RE policies become more affordable and get implemented more extensively). Our findings have implications for policy making. They suggest that for RE diffusion to increase, innovation policies should be carefully balanced. Government action should be directed not only at shielding renewables from competition with fossil fuel technologies, but also at stimulating aggregated demand and economic growth.