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Investigating the impact of energy consumption and nitrogen fertilizer on NOx emissions in China based on the environmental Kuznets curve

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Abstract

This study investigates the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2015 by using energy consumption per capita and nitrogen fertilizer per capita as complementary variables of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions per capita. The panel unit root tests, Pedroni panel cointegration, long-term parameter estimates, and Dumitrescu–Hurlin (D–H) causality tests are used in the model. The results are consistent with the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis and show that the inverted U-shaped EKC exists between economic growth and NOx emissions. Energy consumption and nitrogen fertilizer has significantly positive effects on NOx emissions. These results give prominence to the need for decreasing NOx emissions and reducing energy consumption and nitrogen fertilizer. The novelty of this study is to add the nitrogen fertilizer as a new variable by a panel of 30 provinces in China covering 2006–2015 and extend the EKC model, which helps to fill the academic gap in the existing literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. HSBC Business School, Peking University, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China

    Bingjie Xu

  2. China Center for Special Economic Zone Research, College of Economics, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, China

    Ruoyu Zhong

  3. College of Finance, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, Jiangsu, China

    Dan Liu

  4. School of Business and Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China

    Yifeng Liu

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  1. Bingjie Xu
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  2. Ruoyu Zhong
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  4. Yifeng Liu
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Xu, B., Zhong, R., Liu, D. et al. Investigating the impact of energy consumption and nitrogen fertilizer on NOx emissions in China based on the environmental Kuznets curve. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 17590–17605 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01401-4

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