Impact of Energy Mix on Nitrous Oxide Emissions: An Environmental Kuznets Curve approach for APEC countries

There is a limited number of studies on the estimation of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for Nitrous Oxide (N2O) emissions, though it is one of the most harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs) present in ambient atmosphere. In the wake of industrialization, it is necessary to understand the impact of energy consumption pattern on N2O emissions and revise the energy policies accordingly. In this study, we have analysed the impact of renewable and fossil fuel energy consumptions on N2O emissions for APEC countries over the period of 1990-2015, and the analysis has been carried out following the EKC hypothesis framework. The results obtained from the study indicate the efficacy of the renewable energy solutions in having positive impact on environmental quality by helping to reduce the level of N2O emissions. The policy implications derived the results are designed keeping the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in mind, so that the energy policies can bring forth sustainability in the economic systems in these nations

Impact of Energy Mix on Nitrous Oxide Emissions: An Environmental Kuznets Curve approach for APEC countries

There is a limited number of studies on the estimation of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for Nitrous Oxide (N2O) emissions, though it is one of the most harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs) present in ambient atmosphere. In the wake of industrialization, it is necessary to understand the impact of energy consumption pattern on N2O emissions and revise the energy policies accordingly. In this study, we have analyzed the impact of renewable and fossil fuel energy consumptions on N2O emissions for APEC countries over the period of 1990-2015, and the analysis has been carried out following the EKC hypothesis framework. The results obtained from the study indicate the efficacy of the renewable energy solutions in having positive impact on environmental quality by helping to reduce the level of N2O emissions. The policy implications derived the results are designed keeping the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in mind, so that the energy policies can bring forth sustainability in the economic systems in these nations

Governance Quality and Tourism: Moderation of Social Determinants of Crime

Researchers have identified the impact of crime rates on tourism development, and in this study, we intend to look into the possible social causes behind those impacts. In this pursuit, we analyse the moderating role of social determinants of crime in shaping the association between tourism development and governance for 30 Asia-pacific countries over 1990-2017. In methodological terms, we have employed principal component analysis (PCA) for index building and generalized method of moments (GMM) for the estimation of long run elasticities. Using PCA, we have built separate indices for tourism development and social indicators. Results of GMM indicate that incidents of unemployment and increase in refugee population can diminish the positive impact of education on the association between tourism development and governance. The policymakers need to focus more on capacity building and job creation for internalizing the social imbalances, which might hamper the governance quality for fostering the development of tourism sector

Analyzing Technology-Emissions Association in Top-10 Polluted MENA Countries: How to Ascertain Sustainable Development by Quantile Modeling Approach

This study investigates the relationship between technological progression and ambient air pollution in top-10 polluted Middle East and North African (MENA) countries by using monthly data for the period of 1990-2017. The Quantile cointegration proposed by Xiao (2009), Quantile-on-Quantile regression (QQ) proposed by Sim and Zhou (2015), and Quantile Autoregressive Granger causality developed by Troster (2018) are applied. In particular, we examine to which extent, quantiles of technological progression affect the quantiles of ambient air pollution, by developing separate indicators for both the mentioned aspects using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Our empirical findings unfold mutual dependence between technological progression and ambient air pollution. Furthermore, the results of Quantile Autoregressive Granger causality test conclude a bidirectional causal relationship between technological progression and ambient air pollution

Importance of high-frequency bands for thermal dust removal in ECHO

The Indian Consortium of Cosmologists has proposed a cosmic microwave background (CMB) space mission, Exploring Cosmic History and Origin (ECHO). A major scientific goal of the mission is to detect the primordial B-mode signal of CMB polarization. The detection of the targeted signal is very challenging as it is deeply buried under the dominant astrophysical foreground emissions of the thermal dust and the Galactic synchrotron. To facilitate the adequate subtraction of thermal dust, the instrument design of ECHO has included nine dust-dominated high-frequency bands over the frequency range of 220-850 GHz. In this work, we closely reexamine the utility of the high-frequency ECHO bands in foreground subtraction using the Needlet Internal Linear Combination component separation method. We consider three dust models: a physical dust model, a dust spectral energy distribution (SED) with a single modified black body (MBB) emission law and a multilayer dust model with frequency-frequency decorrelation. We consider eleven ECHO bands in the 28-190 GHz range as our baseline configuration and investigate the changes in the level foreground and noise residuals as subsequent dust-dominated high-frequency bands are added. We find that adding the high-frequency bands leads to a consistent decrease in the level of residual foreground and noise, and the sensitivity of r measurement improves. Most of the reduction in both residual levels and enhancement in the sensitivity is achieved in the 28-600 GHz frequency range. Negligible change in residual levels is seen by extending the frequency range from 600 GHz to 850 GHz.Comment: 8 figures; changed the title of the paper, made revisions in abstract and text, result and conclusion unchange

Renewable Energy Policies and Contradictions in Causality: A case of Next 11 Countries

Numerous studies on the causal relationship between economic growth, energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have shown divergence in policy recommendations, which arises mainly due to the choice of methodology and the period of study. This inconclusiveness in policy prescriptions might turn out to be critical, when the renewable energy policies of the developing nations are considered. Our study analyses the causal relationship between economic growth, carbon emissions, fossil fuel and renewable energy consumption in Next 11 countries during the period of 1990-2016. Along with conducting parametric and non-parametric causality tests together, introducing the Geweke (1982) causality test in the literature of energy economics, we attempt to establish a wholesome aspect of policy design, by comparing and complementing results of different causality analysis, and how the causality directions should comply with the context setting. Our empirical evidence confirms that robust renewable energy policy can be designed by complementing the various causality test results, rather than focusing on one particular causality test

Interplay between Technological Innovation and Environmental Quality: Formulating the SDG Policies for Next 11 Economies

Since the inception of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Next 11 (N11) countries are facing difficulties in attaining the SDG objectives, as maintaining the environmental quality has been a challenge for them. In this study, we have revisited the technology policies of these countries, and in doing so, we have tried to address the problem of environmental degradation, while addressing the issues of sustained economic growth, clean and affordable energy, and quality education. In this pursuit, we have designed two indices for environmental degradation and technological advancement, and then analyzed the association between them following the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The empirical analysis has been done by IPAT framework, and by using bootstrapped quantile regression and rolling window heterogeneous panel casualty tests, over a period of 1990-2017. Following the results obtained from the analysis, we have tried to address the objectives of SDG 13, SDG 4, SDG 8, SDG 9, SDG 7, and SDG 10

Interplay between Technological Innovation and Environmental Quality: Formulating the SDG Policies for Next 11 Economies

Since the inception of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Next 11 (N11) countries are facing difficulties in attaining the SDG objectives, as maintaining the environmental quality has been a challenge for them. In this study, we have revisited the technology policies of these countries, and in doing so, we have tried to address the problem of environmental degradation, while addressing the issues of sustained economic growth, clean and affordable energy, and quality education. In this pursuit, we have designed two indices for environmental degradation and technological advancement, and then analyzed the association between them following the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The empirical analysis has been done by IPAT framework, and by using bootstrapped quantile regression and rolling window heterogeneous panel casualty tests, over a period of 1990-2017. Following the results obtained from the analysis, we have tried to address the objectives of SDG 13, SDG 4, SDG 8, SDG 9, SDG 7, and SDG 10