• Energy Research

Since employing environmentally friendly technologies (EFTs) is a complicated and difficult process that is affected by multiple factors, researchers are encouraged to explore those influence factors. This research aims to estimate the households’ perception factors affecting the adoption intentions of EFTs. Based on a questionnaire survey from 782 Pakistani households, a structural equation modeling strategy yields empirical results. The main findings are: firstly, the drivers of adoption intention of EFTs include technological awareness, perceived environmental importance, perceived behavioral control, and perceived benefits. Secondly, significant barriers to the adoption intention of EFTs involve the perceived cost of EFTs and the perceived risk-averse behavior of households. Thirdly, among all factors, perceived environmental importance reveals the most substantial contribution, whereas perceived risk-averse behavior shows the least contribution to the adoption intention of EFTs. Finally, given these results, strengthening the financial benefits, controlling the roaring cost of EFTs, and the provision of rebates and subsidization are suggested to upscale the adoption intention of EFTs by the households.

Energy is the main element for a modern lifestyle that must be considered in economically reliable and sustainable development dialogues. The financial performance of solar power projects has become the main issue, especially in developing countries such as Pakistan, where it has gained the special attention of government and regulatory authorities. The present study evaluates green technology strategies for the sustainable development of solar power projects in Pakistan. We examine the moderating role of cost and riskiness of the methods between the nexus of capital budgeting techniques and the financial performance of solar power projects. The analysis is performed on data collected from 44 respondents (chief financial officers and chief executive officers) by accompanying an inclusive questionnaire survey. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to assess the formulated suppositions. The results reveal that green technology strategies positively impact the sustainable development of solar power projects. The profitability index is a good source of higher financial performance of the solar power projects. The results further demonstrate that the cost and riskiness of the methods significantly moderate the nexus of capital budgeting techniques and the financial performance of solar power projects. These findings provide a valuable manual for policymakers, government institutions, and regulators to select the appropriate green technology strategy to increase cleaner production and sustainable development of solar power projects.

This study examines how economic (ECON), environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) factors affect SDG-based energy efficiency (EE) for G-7 countries. In this examination, the study, for the first time, introduces the form "ECON-ESG" defined by Isik et al. (2024c). The authors integrated economic factors (ECON) into traditional ESG since they assert that economic impacts on sustainability are undeniable. The CS-ARDL model is used with the AMG and CCEMG techniques to test its robustness. Empirical findings reveal that while economic factors (ECON) negatively impact EE, environmental factors (E) positively impact it. Based on this negative impact on EE, and of course, only within the limits of this study, we, for the first time, conceptually define and introduce G-7 as "ECON-growth-paradox and E-growth- harmonized countries." Because G-7 countries are developed economically, however, development negatively (paradoxically) affects these countries' EEs, contrary to positive effect expectations. The word "harmonized" refers to the supportive-harmonizing (positive) effect of environmental factors (E) on EE. Therefore, policymakers need to align conflicting economic and environmental policies on energy efficiency. The country-wise analysis results show that while Canada, Italy, and the USA are ECON-growthparadox countries, the UK is an E-growth-harmonized country. (c) 2024 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

This study investigates the validity of the EKC (environmental Kuznets curve) hypothesis for the 50 US states and a Federal District (Washington, D.C.). To this aim, the common correlated effects (CCE) and the augmented mean group (AMG) estimation procedures are applied between 1980 and 2015. While the CCE estimation does not support EKC hypothesis, the AMG does. The empirical findings of the AMG estimation indicate that only 14 states verify the EKC hypothesis. Additionally, the expected negative impacts of fossil energy consumption on the environment (CO2 emissions) are strongly detected in all states except Texas. However, the expected positive impacts of renewable energy consumption on the CO2 emissions are detected only in 13 states. Furthermore, the expected negative impacts of the population are not detected in some mostly populated states like New York, Texas, and Ohio. The overall findings of this study may help the US state-level policy makers in two ways: first, to understand whether their economic growths are sustainable (eco-friendly); second, to see how their fossil and renewable energy consumptions affect their environments and to review their energy policies.

This study examines the impact of government spending, income, and tourism consumption on CO2 emissions in the 50 US states through a novel theoretical model derived from the Armey Curve model and the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. The findings of this research are essential for policymakers to develop effective strategies for mitigating environmental pollution. Utilizing panel cointegration analysis, the study provides valuable insights into whether continued increases in government spending contribute to higher pollution levels. By identifying the threshold point of spending as a percentage of GDP, policymakers can make informed decisions to avoid the trade-off between increased spending and environmental degradation. For instance, the analysis reveals that Hawaii's tipping point is 16.40%. The empirical results underscore the importance of adopting sustainable policies that foster economic growth while minimizing environmental harm. These findings will aid policymakers in formulating targeted and efficient approaches to tackle climate change and promote long-term environmental sustainability in the United States. Moreover, the impact of tourism development on CO2 emissions varies across states, with some US states experiencing a decrease while others see an increase.

Carbon dioxide emission and GHGs are associated with fossil fuels which have adverse effects on the environment. The key intention of this paper was to determine the asymmetric effect of CO2 emission on expenditures, trade, FDI, and renewable energy consumption in Pakistan. An asymmetrical technique (nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag) was employed to validate the constructive and adverse relation among variables. Furthermore, the Granger causality test was also used to verify the unidirectional association amid variables. Study outcomes revealed that the adverse shocks of renewable energy consumption exposed expressively to upsurge CO2 emission in the short-run dynamics. Conversely, constructive shocks of renewable energy consumption display an adversative association with CO2 emission. Furthermore, the decreasing trend in foreign direct investment tends to impede the detrimental effects of CO2 emission. Additionally, the variable expenditures also create the non-eco-friendly impacts and manifest the positive linkage through CO2 emission. Trade possesses statistically insignificant linkage with environmental degradation. The results also disclose that positive as well as negative variations in the foreign direct investment expose to degrade the environmental eminence. Long-run results suggest the direct association between downward trend in renewable energy consumption and CO2 emission signifying that the pollution level decreases, and the upward trend in renewable energy consumption, however, demonstrates insignificantly positive effects. The results also disclose that positive as well as negative variations in the FDI lead to degrade the CO2 emission. Moreover, it is found that the expenditures soar the issue of pollution again in the long run. Finally, the consequence of trade on CO2 emission is adverse, as the outcome suggests. In order to improve the environmental policies for sustainable growth, the study provides direction toward a sustainable environment by reducing carbon dioxide emission.

The development of the financial sector is one of the main macroeconomic goals for developing countries as well as developed ones. The literature focusing on the determinants of financial sector development presents very diverse and inconsistent results. Therefore, the main aim of the study is to empirically investigate the long run and causal linkages between natural resources, economic growth, savings, current account balance and financial sector development for 33 developing countries. The study applies the cross-sectionally augmented autore-gressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) and Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality tests, which are among the new panel data techniques. The results reveal that natural resources, economic growth, savings, current account balance and financial sector development are cointegrated. Natural resources, economic growth and current account balance negatively affect financial development while savings stimulate financial development. It is found that there exists a bi-directional causality between all the explanatory variables and financial development. Theo-retical and policy implications are discussed within the perspective of macroeconomics and financial sustain-ability for developing countries.

It is crucial to fulfill sustainable development goals in combating environmental pollution. Recently, there has been a growing literature on environmental pollution; however, while many proxies represent environmental pollution, few proxies represent environmental sustainability. In this paper, we examine the effects of institutional quality (SDG-16), economic growth (SDG-8), and renewable energy (SDG-7) on the inverted load capacity factor (SDG-13) in OECD countries from 1999 to 2018. The objective is to ensure environmental sustainability within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework. In this respect, the study differs from the existing literature by approaching the sustainable environment literature from a broader perspective. Long-term empirical estimates from the PMG-ARDL technique have shown that institutional quality, reel income, and population increase the inverted load capacity factor, that is, decrease environmental sustainability. However, on the contrary, renewable energy decreases the inverted load capacity factor. Therefore, renewable energy consumption helps reach SDG-7 and SDG-13 in OECD countries. In addition, it is found that economic growth is significant both in the long run and in the short run, and the impact of economic growth on the environment is greater in the short run than in the long run. This result supports the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for OECD countries. The panel causality test results find a bidirectional causality relationship from renewable energy and population to inverted load capacity factor and a unidirectional causality relationship from institutional quality to inverted load capacity factor. This study argues that policymakers should concentrate on deploying environmentally friendly technology to slow down environmental degradation, increase the usage of renewable energy sources, and promote sustainable development in line with the SDGs.