• Energy Research

This study used panel simultaneous equations models with a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator to examine the three-way linkages between ecological footprint (EFP), renewable energy consumption (REC), and income in the Group of Seven (G7) countries over the period 1990–2018. The outcomes of this study demonstrate a two-way association between gross domestic product (GDP) and renewable energy. The findings confirm the presence of a bidirectional link between outcome and ecological footprint, as well as between EFP and renewable energy. The results of this study demonstrate that improving human capital positively and significantly effects income, environmental quality, and REC. Ecological footprint is not significantly impacted by economic and social globalization, whereas the impact of financial globalization is negative and significant. Trade openness is positively and significantly connected with REC and income, which could contribute to reducing environmental deterioration. In conclusion, we make policy recommendations that are based on the findings of the study.

Given the alarming level of climate change, policymakers across the globe are seeking strategies to mitigate environmental pollution to achieve sustainable development. In this context, renewable energy and technological advancements have emerged as an effective way to lower pollution and attain sustainable development. This study evaluates the effect of financial inclusion, technological innovation, and renewable energy on the load capacity factor (LCF) in European countries from 2004 to 2018. LCF is considered the most comprehensive indicator of ecological sustainability, combining both the biocapacity factor and ecological footprint. Hence, the present work fills the literature gap by exploring, for the first time, the effect of financial inclusion on the LCF. Applying the advanced Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR), the study demonstrates that technological innovation and economic growth have adverse effects on LCF while renewable energy and financial inclusion promote LCF. The study indicates that technological innovation and economic growth undermine ecological excellence in European nations while green energy and financial inclusion enhance it. Moreover, the findings of the causality analysis reveal a causal association between financial inclusion, renewable energy, and LCF. Our study recommends prioritizing financial inclusion alongside investments in renewable energy to enhance ecological sustainability.

Abstract Ensuring water, energy, and food security with minimum damage to groundwater resources is a key challenge to achieve sustainable development in arid areas. To address this scientific and policy challenge, a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM)-nonlinear programming approach is developed for informing debates over improved management of the groundwater, energy, and food nexus that optimally allocates resources to food production to improve economic benefit and control groundwater depletion. Furthermore, this approach is capable of evaluating management policies affecting resource planning at a regional level. The approach is applied to the Neishaboor basin in northeast Iran. The main results are: (i) economic profit and food production depend on groundwater availability and energy use, which raise environmental protection challenges; (ii) the solutions could be used to define optimal policy strategies for sustainable management of groundwater, energy, food, and simultaneously achieve economic and environmental goals; (iii) improved irrigation efficiency would be considered as an efficient strategy under conditions of growing water scarcity. The results of this research can inform policy makers on effective strategies for integrated groundwater, energy, and food planning.

AbstractRapid industrialization and modernization have drastically impaired ecological sustainability and increased ecological footprint (EFP). Despite the vital relevance of renewable energy (REC) and green technological innovation (GTI), in many facets of life, the part played by these factors and their spatial spillover effects in exploring ecological sustainability in EU countries has yet to be well studied. Thus, using a spatial panel econometric technique, this research investigates the direct and spillover effects of GTI and REC on ecological sustainability in 20 selected EU nations between 1995 and 2018. First, the empirical results affirm a positive spatial connection of EFP across nations, implying that employing spatial models can provide more trustworthy results than traditional econometric approaches. Second, both GTI and REC tend to significantly promote domestic ecological sustainability. Third, the environmental quality of EU countries benefit from the high GTI, REC, and human capital of their neighboring nations. Fourth, economic growth and financial globalization (FG) have a negative and significant effect on environmental quality. Other empirical analyses indicated that the indirect effect of FG on EFP is positive and significant. With a focus on the EU countries, this paper assists policymakers in developing a comprehensive strategy for enhancing ecological responsibility via renewable energy and green technology innovation.

Environmental goods and low-carbon technologies have long been identified as having the potential to drive long-term economic progress without compromising environmental quality. However, their exact role in mitigating environmental degradation are yet to be unravelled. In addressing this shortfall, the extant literature relied on research funding and patent application as proxies for green technologies. Having established the weaknesses in the use of these variables as proxies for green technologies, this study explored the role of trade in environmental goods and low-carbon technologies in boosting environmental quality among G20 nation using a panel dataset from 1994 to 2018. The study employed the Method of Moment quantile regression for the model estimation and the Ridge regression, Discroll-Kraay standard error, and the Newey-West standard error estimators to test the robustness of our findings. Our findings indicate that whereas environmental goods promote environmental quality, low-carbon technologies decrease same. Also, the study found economic growth to exert an aggravating effect on environmental quality, while foreign direct investments, natural resource rents, human capital development, and renewable energy consumption exert positive influence on environmental quality. Based on the findings of the study, G20 nations are encouraged to improve green market structures to improve the trade in environmental goods and low-carbon technologies. Also the share of renewable energy sources in the overall energy basket must be improved to help improve environmental quality.

Achieving economic development is one of the most important economic goals of every country. Identifying the determinants of economic growth, is a useful tool for adopting appropriate economic policies. This study, therefore, empirically examines the impact of trade openness, foreign direct investment, and financial development on economic growth, across 62 countries over the period 1995–2016. These countries are divided into two groups: low-income and high-income countries. We employ the pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effect (DFE) estimation techniques on the cross-country panel data. The findings show a positive long run association between trade openness, foreign direct investment (FDI), financial development, labor, government expenditure, and economic growth in low-income countries, with a positive and negative short run effect from capital and government expenditures, respectively. For high-income countries, a positive long run association between trade openness, FDI, capital, and economic growth exist. The short run estimates indicate a positive effect on trade openness and capital as well as a negative effect on government expenditure. Our study shows that the adoption of policies that improves access to skilled labor and international trade, affect the attainment of a sustainable economic development.

During the last decade, the rising trend in energy prices and its potential effect on food prices have become a controversial issue between policy-makers and economists. Therefore, research addressing the relationship between food and macroeconomic variables, such as energy prices, will be useful in providing information for the design of appropriate economic policies. This study uses data from Iran to examine the impacts (short- and long-term) of exchange rate and energy prices on food prices. Iran is a good case study as in recent years its consumers have faced a rapid increase in both fuel and food prices. The variables employed in this study are the prices of ten food products, exchange rate (the value of Iranian rial per US dollar), and petroleum prices. All data in this study are from the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI). We employ the panel unit root test, Pedroni co-integration tests, Pooled Mean Group (PMG), Mean Group (MG), and Dynamic Fixed Effects (DFE) estimation techniques, applied to a panel of monthly prices for ten food products for the period of March 1995 to February 2018. Results show that in both the short- and long-run, food prices would increase in response to an increase in energy prices. Findings also suggest that the appreciation of the United States Dollar (USD) in terms of the Iranian rial exerts a positive and significant impact on food prices in the long run.

This study investigates the effects of Angola’s agricultural, manufacturing, and mineral exports on the country’s economic growth using data from 1980 to 2017. An Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is employed to estimate the effect of sectoral exports on economic growth. The estimation results show that while exports from all three sectors (manufacturing, mineral, and non-mineral) have driven Angola’s economic growth in the long-run; only non-manufacturing (agricultural and mineral) exports have led its growth in the short-run. Moreover, growth in non-export GDP was driven by mineral exports in the long-run and agricultural exports in the short-run. Considering the statistically significant and positive impact of mineral exports on the Angolan GDP as well as on its non-export GDP, this study points to a lack of evidence supporting the Dutch disease phenomenon in Angola.