Energy efficiency, rebound effects and the environmental Kuznets Curve

Technological change is one factor used to justify the existence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve, and technological improvements have been argued to be a key factor in mitigating the impacts of economic growth on environmental quality. In this paper we use a CGE model of the Scottish economy to consider the factors influencing the impacts of one form of technological change–improvements in energy efficiency–on absolute levels of CO2 emissions, on the carbon intensity of the economy (CO2 emissions relative to real GDP), and the per capita EKC relationship. These factors include the elasticity of substitution between energy and non-energy inputs, responses in the labour market and the structure of the economy. Our results demonstrate the key role played by the general equilibrium price elasticity of demand for energy, and the relative influence of different factors on this parameter.     

Simultaneity modeling analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis has been recognized in the environmental economics literature since the 1990's. Various statistical tests have been used on time series, cross section and panel data related to single and groups of countries to validate this hypothesis. In the literature, the validation has always been conducted by using a single equation. However, since both the environment and income variables are endogenous, the estimation of a single equation model when simultaneity exists produces inconsistent and biased estimates. Therefore, we formulate simultaneous two-equation models to investigate the EKC hypothesis for fifty-six countries, using annual panel data from 1990 to 2012, with the end year is determined by data availability for the panel. To make the panel data analysis more homogeneous, we investigate this issue for a three income-based panels (namely, high-, middle-, and low-income panels) given several explanatory variables. Our results indicate that there exists a bidirectional causality between economic growth and pollution emissions in the overall panels. We also find that the relationship is nonlinear and has an inverted U-shape for all the considered panels. Policy implications are provided.     

Environmental Kuznets Curve in China: New evidence from dynamic panel analysis

This paper applies a panel of 28 provinces of China from 1996 to 2012 to study the impacts of economic development, energy consumption, trade openness, and urbanization on the carbon dioxide, waste water, and waste solid emissions. By estimating a dynamic panel model with the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator and an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model with alternative panel estimators, respectively, we find that the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is well supported for all three major pollutant emissions in China across different models and estimation methods. Our study also confirms positive effects of energy consumption on various pollutant emissions. In addition, we find some evidence that trade and urbanization may deteriorate environmental quality in the long run, albeit not in the short run. From policy perspective, our estimation results bode well for Chinese government's goal of capping greenhouse emissions by 2030 as outlined in the recent China-US climate accord, while containing energy consumption and harm effects from expanding trade and urbanization remains some environmental challenges that China faces.     

Environmental degradation,economic growth and energy consumption: Evidence of the environmental Kuznets curve in Malaysia

This paper tests for the short and long-run relationship between economic growth, carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and energy consumption, using the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) by employing both the aggregated and disaggregated energy consumption data in Malaysia for the period 1980–2009. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) methodology and Johansen–Juselius maximum likelihood approach were used to test the cointegration relationship; and the Granger causality test, based on the vector error correction model (VECM), to test for causality. The study does not support an inverted U-shaped relationship (EKC) when aggregated energy consumption data was used. When data was disaggregated based on different energy sources such as oil, coal, gas and electricity, the study does show evidences of the EKC hypothesis. The long-run Granger causality test shows that there is bi-directional causality between economic growth and CO₂ emissions, with coal, gas, electricity and oil consumption. This suggests that decreasing energy consumption such as coal, gas, electricity and oil appears to be an effective way to control CO₂ emissions but simultaneously will hinder economic growth. Thus suitable policies related to the efficient consumption of energy resources and consumption of renewable sources are required.     

A survey of index decomposition analysis in energy and environmental studies

Index decomposition methodology was a technique first used in the late 1970s to study the impact of changes in product mix on industrial energy demand. A survey in 1995 listed a total of 51 studies. Since then, many new studies and several new decomposition methods have been reported and the methodology has been increasingly used in energy-related environmental analysis. We trace these new developments, discuss method formulation using an index number framework, and classify more than one hundred studies based on application area, aggregate indicator, and decomposition scheme. Application issues useful to researchers undertaking new studies and possible areas for future research are presented.     

Biomass energy,technological progress and the environmental Kuznets curve: Evidence from selected European countries

We examine the causal relationship between economic growth and CO₂ emissions in a panel of 24 European countries from 1980 to 2010. Using an analytical framework that considers pooled mean group estimations in a dynamic heterogeneous panel setting, we show that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between CO₂ emissions and economic growth in the long run and that there is no such relationship in the short run. In particular, we find that biomass energy is insignificantly linked to CO₂ emission. However, technological innovation significantly facilitates reduction of CO₂ emissions in the investigated countries. Altogether, our study implies that economic growth and environmental quality can be achieved simultaneously, which opens up new insights for policy-makers for sustainable economic development via implementation of renewable energy consumption through technological innovation.     

Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in Pakistan: Cointegration and Granger causality

The paper is an effort to fill the gap in the energy literature with a comprehensive country study of Pakistan. We investigate the relationship between CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, economic growth and trade openness in Pakistan over the period of 1971–2009. Bounds test for cointegration and Granger causality approach are employed for the empirical analysis. The result suggests that there exists a long-run relationship among the variables and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is supported. The significant existence of EKC shows the country's effort to condense CO₂ emissions and indicates certain achievement of controlling environmental degradation in Pakistan. Furthermore, we find a one-way causal relationship running from economic growth to CO₂ emissions. Energy consumption increases CO₂ emissions both in the short and long runs. Trade openness reduces CO₂ emissions in the long run but it is insignificant in the short run. In addition, the change of CO₂ emissions from short run to the long span of time is corrected by about 10% yearly.     

Economic growth and pollutant emissions in Tunisia: An empirical analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve

This paper investigates the relationship between economic growth and pollutant emissions for a small and open developing country, Tunisia, during the period 1961–2004. The investigation is made on the basis of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, using time series data and cointegration analysis. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) are used as the environmental indicators, and GDP as the economic indicator. Our results show that there is a long-run cointegrating relationship between the per capita emissions of two pollutants and the per capita GDP. An inverted U relationship between SO₂ emissions and GDP has been found, with income turning point approximately equals to $1200 (constant 2000 prices) or to $3700 (in PPP, constant 2000 prices). However, a monotonically increasing relationship with GDP is found more appropriate for CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, the causality results show that the relationship between income and pollution in Tunisia is one of unidirectional causality with income causing environmental changes and not vice versa, both in the short-run and long-run. This implies that an emission reduction policies and more investment in pollution abatement expense will not hurt economic growth. It could be a feasible policy tool for Tunisia to achieve its sustainable growth in the long-run.     

Environmental Kuznets Curve for carbon emissions in Pakistan: An empirical investigation

This study investigates the relationship between carbon emissions, income, energy consumption, and foreign trade in Pakistan for the period 1972–2008. By employing the Johansen method of cointegration, the study finds that there is a quadratic long-run relationship between carbon emissions and income, confirming the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve for Pakistan. Moreover, both energy consumption and foreign trade are found to have positive effects on emissions. The short-run results have, however, denied the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The short-run results are unique to the existing literature in the sense that none of the long-run determinants of emissions is significant. The contradictory results of short- and long-run give policy makers the opportunity to formulate different types of growth policies for the two terms taking environmental issues into consideration. In addition, the uni-directional causality from growth to energy consumption suggests that the policy makers should not only focus on forecasting future demand for energy with different growth scenarios but also on obtaining the least cost energy. Furthermore, the absence of causality from emissions to growth suggests that Pakistan can curb its carbon emissions without disturbing its economic growth.     

Empirical study on the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2 in France: The role of nuclear energy

This paper attempts to estimate the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in the case of France by taking the role of nuclear energy in electricity production into account. We adopt the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration as the estimation method. Additionally, we examine the stability of the estimated models and investigate the Granger causality relationships between the variables in the system. The results from our estimation provide evidence supporting the EKC hypothesis, and the estimated models are shown to be stable over the sample period. The uni-direction running from other variables to CO₂ emissions are confirmed from the casualty tests. Specifically, the uni-directional causality relationship running from nuclear energy to CO₂ emissions statistically provides evidence on the important role of nuclear energy in reducing CO₂ emissions.     

GHG emissions,GDP growth and the Kyoto Protocol: A revisit of Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis

The Kyoto Protocol attempts through political negotiations to guide participating industrialized countries’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a positive growing trend, to reach a peak point (or turning point), and then be reduced to a negative growth. That means the relationship between decreasing GHG emissions and economic growth may be described by an inverted-U curve (or called a bell-shaped curve), which is consistent with the concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis.     

微油点火系统在国产600MW超临界锅炉上的应用

阐述微油点火系统的改造方式、运行情况,重点介绍微油点火技术在600MW超临界锅炉上的应用研究及经济性分析。该系统燃烧性能稳定,能实现机组冷、热态启动及低负荷稳燃,节油效果明显,经济效益显著。     

Decision analysis in energy and environmental modeling: An update

The 1995 survey on decision analysis (DA) in energy and environmental modeling by [Huang et al. Decision analysis in energy and environmental modeling. Energy 1995; 20: 843–855] lists 95 publications. We updated the survey and found that the number of publications has almost tripled to 252. We also extended and refined this earlier survey by classifying the 252 studies by source of publication, DA method, application area, and several new attributes. Statistical analyses using hypothesis testing and a multiple attribute analysis on the suitability of different DA methods in each application area were conducted. It was found that the importance of multiple criteria decision-making methods and energy-related environmental studies has increased substantially since 1995. We also describe some new developments that have taken place since the last survey.     

Residential energy consumption: A convergence analysis across Chinese regions

The process of urbanization and the raise of living standards in China have led an increasing trend in the patterns of residential consumption. Projections for the population growth rate in urban areas do not paint a very optimistic picture for energy conservation policies. In addition, the concentration of economic activities around coastal areas calls for new prospects to be formulated for energy policy. In this context, the objective of this paper is twofold. First, we analyse the effect of the urbanization process of the Chinese economy in terms of the long-run patterns of residential energy consumption at national level. By using the concept of club convergence, we examine whether electricity and coal consumption in rural and urban areas converge to the same long-run equilibrium or whether in fact they diverge. Second, the impact of the regional concentration of the economic activity on energy consumption patterns is also assessed by source of energy across Chinese regions from 1995 to 2011. Our results suggest that the process of urbanization has led to coal being replaced by electricity in urban residential energy consumption. In rural areas, the evidence is mixed. The club convergence analysis confirms that rural and urban residential energy consumption converge to different steady-states. At the regional level, we also confirm the effect of the regional concentration of economic activity on residential energy consumption. The existence of these regional clusters converging to different equilibrium levels is indicative of the need of regional-tailored set of energy policies in China.     

Decomposition analysis of energy consumption in Chinese transportation sector

The purpose of this paper is to identify the relations between transportation energy consumption and its impacted factors. We first analyze the current status of transportation energy consumption in China. Then, the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) technique is used to find the nature of the factors those influence the changes in transportation energy consumption. We find that: (1) In 2006, the transportation energy consumption increased by 7.63 times against that in 1980. (2) Up to 2006, the oil consumed by transportation accounted for 49.6% of that in the whole country, which almost equaled to the net oil import. (3) In the light of the increasing energy consumption intensity, the energy-utilization effectiveness of transportation sector has been declining gradually. (4) The transportation activity effect is the most important contributor to increase energy consumption in the transportation sector and the energy intensity effect plays the dominant role in decreasing energy consumption.     

A note on the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2: A pooled mean group approach

This paper investigates whether the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for CO₂ emissions is satisfied using the panel data of 28 countries by taking nuclear energy into account. Using the pooled mean group (PMG) estimation method, our main results indicate that (1) the impacts of nuclear energy on CO₂ emissions are significantly negative, (2) CO₂ emissions actually increase monotonically within the sample period in all cases: the full sample, OECD countries, and non-OECD countries, and (3) the growth rate in CO₂ emissions with income is decreasing in OECD countries and increasing in non-OECD countries.     

Life cycle energy and environmental analysis of a microgrid power pavilion

Microgrids—generating systems incorporating multiple distributed generator sets linked together to provide local electricity and heat—are one possible alterative to the existing centralized energy system. Potential advantages of microgrids include flexibility in fuel supply options, the ability to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, and energy efficiency improvements through combined heat and power (CHP) applications. As a case study in microgrid performance, this analysis uses a life cycle assessment approach to evaluate the energy and emissions performance of the NextEnergy microgrid Power Pavilion in Detroit, Michigan and a reference conventional system. The microgrid includes generator sets fueled by solar energy, hydrogen, and natural gas. Hydrogen fuel is sourced from both a natural gas steam reforming operation and as a by‐product of a chlorine production operation. The chlorine plant receives electricity exclusively from a hydropower generating station. Results indicate that the use of this microgrid offers a total energy reduction potential of up to 38%, while reductions in non‐renewable energy use could reach 51%. Similarly, emissions of CO₂, a key global warming gas, can be reduced by as much as 60% relative to conventional heat and power systems. Hydrogen fuels are shown to provide a net energy and emissions benefit relative to natural gas only when sourced primarily from the chlorine plant. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal and energy analysis of a Chinese kang

About 67 million Chinese kangs are still used by about 175 million people in China today. The kang utilizes biomass burning for space heating and hence reduces the use of commercial energy. However, the existing design of kangs is largely based on the accumulated experience of craftsmen, for lack of scientific studies and engineering design guidelines. Poor construction of kangs also leads to serious indoor air pollution. In this paper, a macroscopic smoke flow and heat transfer model of an elevated kang is integrated in a widely-used building energy analysis software in China-DeST, and the integrated software can be used for the thermal performance analysis of kang-integrated houses. A typical house with kangs in various villages of northern China is chosen as a case study. The annual performance of the kang under different insulations of building envelope and climatic conditions are discussed. Based on the simulation results, it is found that the thermal comfort requirement of the outside surface of the upper kang plate can be met by a proper construction of the kang and selection of the appropriate firing pattern. The better the insulation of the building envelope is or the better the room air tightness is, the greater the indoor air temperature rise and the greater the building heating load contribution of the kang. In the eight selected cities in northern China, the use of kang can meet 50%–80% of the house heating load.     

The analysis on energy and environmental impacts of microalgae-based fuel methanol in China

The whole life of methanol fuel, produced by microalgae biomass which is a kind of renewable energy, is evaluated by using a method of life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA has been used to identify and quantify the environment emissions and energy efficiency of the system throughout the whole life cycle, including microalgae cultivation, methanol conversion, transport, and end-use. Energy efficiency, defined as the ratio of the energy of methanol produced to the total required energy, is 1.24, the results indicate that it is plausible as an energy producing process. The environmental impact loading of microalgae-based fuel methanol is 0.187mPET₂₀₀₀ in contrast to 0.828mPET₂₀₀₀ for gasoline. The effect of photochemical ozone formation is the highest of all the calculated categorization impacts of the two fuels. Utilization of microalgae an raw material of producing methanol fuel is beneficial to both production of renewable fuels and improvement of the ecological environment. This Fuel methanol is friendly to the environment, which should take an important role in automobile industry development and gasoline fuel substitute.     

Exergoenvironmental analysis for evaluation of the environmental impact of energy conversion systems

To improve the ecological performance of energy conversion systems, it is essential to understand the formation of environmental impact at component level. A method has been developed that (a) reveals the extent to which each component of an energy conversion system is responsible for the overall environmental impact and (b) identifies the sources of the impact. The approach of exergoeconomic analysis is modified to deal with an evaluation of the ecological impact instead of an economic problem. The basic idea is that exergy represents a proper basis for allocating both costs and environmental impact to components of energy conversion processes.