Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Erciyes University, 38039, Kayseri, Turkey.
Department of Economics, University of Lagos, Akoka, Nigeria.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Oct;28(38):53712-53727. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-14506-0. Epub 2021 May 25.
Energy research and development (R&D) and environmental sustainability is often referred to as two interrelated trends, especially in the current context of the 4 industrial revolution. As a primary input of energy innovations, R&D in the energy sector constitutes a vital tool in addressing global environmental and energy challenges. In this frame, we observe the effects of disaggregated energy R&D on environmental pollution within the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework in thirteen developed countries over the period 2003-2018. By employing the panel quantile regression technique, we find an inverted U-shaped nexus between economic growth and carbon emissions only in higher carbon-emitting countries, thus, confirming the EKC hypothesis. However, the U-shaped nexus is more predominant in lower carbon-emitting countries. As such, we demonstrate that there is not any single dynamic in the relationship between economic growth and pollution as reported in previous studies. Contrary to expectations, we find that energy efficiency research and development is more effective in curbing carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels and renewable energy research and development. The empirical results indicate also that only energy efficiency R&D mitigates significantly the CO emissions from the 50 quantile up to 90 quantile, although the magnitude of the negative sign is more pronounced (in absolute term) at the highest quantile (90th). In this light, our findings would guide policymakers in the establishment of sustainable energy research and development schemes that will allow the preservation of equilibrium for the environment while also promoting energy innovations.
能源研发（R&D）和环境可持续性通常被视为两个相互关联的趋势，特别是在当前第四次工业革命的背景下。作为能源创新的主要投入，能源部门的研发是应对全球环境和能源挑战的重要工具。在这个框架下，我们观察了 2003 年至 2018 年间 13 个发达国家中分散的能源研发对环境库兹涅茨曲线（EKC）框架内的环境污染的影响。通过使用面板分位数回归技术，我们发现经济增长与碳排放之间只有在高碳排放国家才存在倒 U 型关系，从而证实了 EKC 假说。然而，在碳排放较低的国家，这种 U 型关系更为突出。因此，我们证明了，正如之前的研究报告的那样，经济增长与污染之间的关系并不是单一的动态。与预期相反，我们发现与化石燃料和可再生能源研发相比，能源效率研发在遏制碳排放方面更有效。实证结果还表明，只有能源效率研发才能显著减轻从第 50 分位数到第 90 分位数的 CO 排放，尽管在最高分位数（第 90 分位数）的负号幅度（绝对值）更为明显。从这个角度来看，我们的研究结果将为政策制定者制定可持续的能源研发计划提供指导，这些计划将允许在保护环境的同时促进能源创新，以保持平衡。
