Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Variation of digital economy’s effect on carbon emissions: improving energy efficiency and structure for energy conservation and emission reduction

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The significance of accurately assessing the influence of digital economy growth upon reducing emission of carbon in the context of worldwide climate governance cannot be overstated. This is crucial in encouraging low-carbon economic advancement at national level, achieving carbon peak and neutrality as soon as possible, and creating a shared future for humanity. A mediating effect model is established using cross-country panel data from 100 countries, ranging from 1990 to 2019, to assess the influence of digital economy development upon emission of carbon and to explore its underlying mechanism. The study found that: the growth of national emission of carbon can be considerably suppressed by digital economy development, and the reduction of emissions is positively associated to each country’s level of economic advancement. Digital economy growth influences regional emission of carbon via intermediary channels like energy structure and efficiency, with energy intensity having a particularly noticeable intermediary impact. The inhibitory influence of digital economy development upon emission of carbon differs among countries with different levels of income, and improvements in energy structure and efficiency can precede to energy savings and emission reduction in both middle- and high-income countries. The above findings offer policy guidance for harmoniously advancing the growth of digital economy and climate management, hastening the low-carbon transformation of national economies, and implementing China’s carbon peaking initiative.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Notes

  1. According to the IMF's World Economic Outlook 2022, high-income countries include the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Portugal. The middle-income countries include Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Gabon, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Zambia; low-income countries include Burkina Faso, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Guinea-Bissau.

References

  • Alam MdM, Murad MdW (2020) The impacts of economic growth, trade openness and technological progress on renewable energy use in organization for economic co-operation and development countries. Renew Energy 145:382–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allam Z, Jones DS (2021) Future (post-COVID) digital, smart and sustainable cities in the wake of 6G: digital twins, immersive realities and new urban economies. Land Use Policy 101:105201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Añón Higón D, Gholami R, Shirazi F (2017) ICT and environmental sustainability: a global perspective. Telemat Inform 34:85–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antweiler W, Copeland BR, Taylor MS (2001) Is free trade good for the environment? Am Econ Rev 91:877–908

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aydin E, Brounen D, Kok N (2018) Information provision and energy consumption: evidence from a field experiment. Energy Econ 71:403–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron RM, Kenny DA (1986) The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol 51:1173–1182

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya M, Rafiq S, Bhattacharya S (2015) The role of technology on the dynamics of coal consumption–economic growth: new evidence from China. Appl Energy 154:686–695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Y (2020) Improving market performance in the digital economy. China Econ Rev 62:101482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherniwchan J, Copeland BR, Taylor MS (2017) Trade and the environment: new methods, measurements, and results. Annu Rev Econ 9:59–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan J, Zhou L (2019) The mechanism and effect of urbanization and real estate investment on carbon emissions in China. Sci Geogr Sin 04:644–653

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan Y, Xu H, Ma L (2022) Characteristics and mechanism analysis of the influence of digital economy on the income gap between urban and rural residents. China Soft Sci 06:181–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Gobbo JA, Busso CM, Gobbo SCO, Carreão H (2018) Making the links among environmental protection, process safety, and industry 4.0. Process Saf Environ Prot 117:372–382

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Heiskanen E, Jalas M, Timonen P (2005) Reducing the natural resource intensity of private and organisational consumption: the potential of ICT and service innovations. Progr Ind Ecol Int J 2:453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang Q, Yu Y, Zhang S (2019) Internet development and productivity growth in manufacturing industry: internal mechanism and China experiences. China Ind Econ 08:5–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishida H (2015) The effect of ICT development on economic growth and energy consumption in Japan. Telemat Inform 32:79–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe AB, Newell RG, Stavins RN (2002) Environmental policy and technological change. Environ Resour Econ 22:41–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Javaid A, Arshed N, Munir M, Amani Zakaria Z, Alamri FS, H. Abd El-Wahed Khalifa, and U. Hanif. (2022) Econometric assessment of institutional quality in mitigating global climate-change risk. Sustainability 14:669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang J (2021a) Sustainable digital era: high-quality integrated development of green economy and digital economy. Enterp Econ 07:23–30+161

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiang X (2021b) Technology and culture in the digital age. Soc Sci China 08:4–34+204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiao S, Sun Q (2021) The empirical research on the mechanism of the linkage between the development of the digital economy and the upgrading of consumption. J Ind Technol Econ 12:84–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalmaz DB, Kirikkaleli D (2019) Modeling CO2 emissions in an emerging market: empirical finding from ARDL-based bounds and wavelet coherence approaches. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:5210–5220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kjaer LL, Pigosso DCA, McAloone TC, Birkved M (2018) Guidelines for evaluating the environmental performance of product/service-systems through life cycle assessment. J Clean Prod 190:666–678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lan Y, Xu X (2019) Can urbanization improve environmental performance? Econ Surv 04:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Li Y (2019) Measurement of the impact of fiscal decentralization on carbon emission based on STIRPAT. DEStech Transactions on Social Science, Education and Human Science

  • Li J, Wang Q (2020) Spillover effect of green R&D on carbon productivity—study based on adjustment of fiscal decentralization. J Ind Technol Econ 11:83–91

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Yang X, Ran Q, Wu H, Irfan M, Ahmad M (2021) Energy structure, digital economy, and carbon emissions: evidence from China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:64606–64629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang Q, Xiao S, Li M (2021) Digital economy development, spatial spillover and innovation quality growth—the threshold effect test of market efficiency. Shanghai J Econ 09:44–56

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lin B, Zou C (2014) Changes in developmental stage and environmental policy options in China. Soc Sci China 05:81–95+205-206

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Kong F (2021) Research on the impact of digital economy development on urban green transformation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt: based on the perspective of production-living-ecological space. Contemp Econ Manag 09:64–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Rehman A, Ma H, Ahmad M, Ozturk I, Işık C (2021) Estimating the connection of information technology, foreign direct investment, trade, renewable energy and economic progress in Pakistan: evidence from ARDL approach and cointegrating regression analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28:50623–50635

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadorsky P (2012) Information communication technology and electricity consumption in emerging economies. Energy Policy 48:130–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schulte P, Welsch H, Rexhäuser S (2016) ICT and the demand for energy: evidence from OECD countries. Environ Resour Econ 63:119–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen X, Chen Y, Lin B (2021) The impacts of technological progress and industrial structure distortion on China’s energy intensity. Econ Res J 02:157–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Sun W (2020) Analysis on the spatial and temporal differences of urban energy eco-efficiency in the Yellow River Basin and its influencing factors. J Anhui Normal Univ (Hum Soc Sci) 02:149–157

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan R, Xu M, Sun C (2021) The impacts of energy reallocation on economic output and CO2 emissions in China. Energy Econ 94:105062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson P, Williams R, Thomas B (2013) Are UK SMEs with active web sites more likely to achieve both innovation and growth? J Small Bus Enterp Dev 20:934–965

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Usman A, Ozturk I, Hassan A, Maria Zafar S, Ullah S (2021) The effect of ICT on energy consumption and economic growth in South Asian economies: an empirical analysis. Telemat Inform 58:101537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y (2021) The targets of carbon peak and carbon neutralization and China’s new energy revolution. Frontiers 14:88–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang S, Li G, Fang C (2018) Urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions: empirical evidence from countries with different income levels. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 81:2144–2159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Wang Y, Liu S, Lu Y, Du X (2020) The non-linear effect of financial development on promoting industrial structure upgrading. Stud Sci Sci 02:239–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Wen J, Yan Z, Cheng Y (2019) Digital economy and upgrading regional innovation capacity. Inquiry Econ Issues 11:112–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu C, Gao Y (2020) Research on the mechanism and effect of digital economy driving the development of low-carbon industry. Guizhou Soc Sci 11:155–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Xue Y, Tang C, Wu H, Liu J, Hao Y (2022) The emerging driving force of energy consumption in China: does digital economy development matter? Energy Policy 165:112997

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yan X, Deng Y, Peng L, Jiang Z (2022) Study on the impact of digital economy development on carbon emission intensity of urban agglomerations and its mechanism. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30:33142–33159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Z (2010) Nonlinear study of the relationship between “economic growth” and “carbon dioxide emissions”: a nonlinear Granger causal test based on developing countries. J World Econ 10:139–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang L, Liu Y (2020) Environmental regulation and regional innovation efficiency: quasi-natural experimental evidence based on carbon emission trading pilot. Commerc Res 09:11–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang S, Zhang D, Li D (2019) A calculation model for CO2 emission reduction of energy internet: a case study of Yanqing. Sustainability 11:2502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang S-X, Zhu C-X, Qiao L, Chi Y-Y (2020) Dynamic assessment of energy internet’s emission reduction effect—a case study of Yanqing, Beijing. J Clean Prod 272:122663

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan Y, Xi Q, Sun T, Li G (2016) The impact of the industrial structure on regional carbon emission: empirical evidence across countries. Geogr Res 01:82–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Pu Y (2015) Industrial structure evolution and its impact on energy intensity. Ind Econ Res 02:15–22+67

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang S, Wei X (2019) Does information and communication technology reduce enterprise’s energy consumption—evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises survey. China Ind Econ 02:155–173

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This paper is supported by “Research on the Dynamic Value Evaluation of Agricultural Biological Assets, Mortgage Financing Model and Risk Management Policy,” National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Jan 2023–Dec 2026, No. 72273105, sponsor and host: Jianchao Luo. This paper is also supported by “Research on the Effectiveness Evaluation, Risk Control and System Construction of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Policy,” National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Jan 2019–Dec 2022, No. 71873100, sponsor and host: Jianchao Luo. This paper is also supported by “Rural revitalization financial policy innovation team,” Chinese Universities Scientific Fund, Jan 2022–Dec 2023, No. 2452022074, sponsor and host: Jianchao Luo. This paper is also supported by “Research on the Policy Orientation and Implementation Path of Financial Empowerment of Rural Revitalization,” the Soft Science Project of the Central Agricultural Office and the Rural Revitalization Expert Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, 2022.5.31–2023.5.31, No. rkx20221801, sponsor and host: Jianchao Luo.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Bengbu, 233030, People’s Republic of China

    Bingjing Mei

  2. College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, 712100, Yangling, People’s Republic of China

    Arshad Ahmad Khan & Jianchao Luo

  3. Department of Economics and Finance, UiS Business School, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, 4036, Norway

    Sufyan Ullah Khan

  4. International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, 710119, Xian, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Abu Sufyan Ali

Authors
  1. Bingjing Mei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Arshad Ahmad Khan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sufyan Ullah Khan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Muhammad Abu Sufyan Ali
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jianchao Luo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Bingjing Mei: conceptualization, data curation, investigation, modeling, formal analysis, writing original draft. Arshad Ahmad Khan: investigation, modeling, formal analysis, review and editing. Sufyan Ullah Khan: data curation, investigation, formal analysis, review and editing. Muhammad Abu Sufyan Ali: software and methodology, investigation, review and editing. Jianchao Luo: funding acquisition, project administration and supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianchao Luo.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

This is an observational study, and we confirmed that no ethical approval is required.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Ilhan Ozturk

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mei, B., Khan, A.A., Khan, S.U. et al. Variation of digital economy’s effect on carbon emissions: improving energy efficiency and structure for energy conservation and emission reduction. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 87300–87313 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28010-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28010-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation