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Energy efficiency and green innovation and its asymmetric impact on CO2 emission in China: a new perspective

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Abstract

Green innovation undoubtedly plays a significant role in generating employment opportunities, improving green economic activity, and increasing environmental sustainability. This study scrutinizes the effect of energy efficiency and green innovation on CO2 emissions for China using nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) from 1991 to 2019. Findings show that energy efficiency and green innovation contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in China. Energy efficiency and green innovation are also important nonlinear determinants of CO2 emissions. An increase in energy efficiency and green innovation lowers CO2 emissions, while a fall in energy efficiency and green innovation increases CO2 emissions in China in the long run. Some policy measures are suggested to attain carbon neutrality.

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Data availability

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

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China

    Yue Li, Chuan Zhang & Shixiang Li

  2. Department of Economics, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Ahmed Usman

Authors
  1. Yue Li
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  2. Chuan Zhang
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  3. Shixiang Li
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  4. Ahmed Usman
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Contributions

This idea was given by Yue Li. Yue Li, Chuan Zhang, and Ahmed Usman analyzed the data and wrote the complete paper. While Shixiang Li read and approved the final version.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Shixiang Li or Ahmed Usman.

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Li, Y., Zhang, C., Li, S. et al. Energy efficiency and green innovation and its asymmetric impact on CO2 emission in China: a new perspective. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 47810–47817 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19161-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19161-7

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