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The use of economic instruments within environmental policy has become a challenging topic for policymakers, governments and scholars. Environmental taxes have emerged as a prevailing preference in developed countries to promote sustainability. Recently, a particular focus has been given to waste generation and disposal, shifting the attention from greenhouse gases to another important source of environmental pollution. This paper investigates the effect of national environmental taxes and policies on industrial waste. A fixed effects model is used for 34 countries across Europe from 2004 to 2022. The results suggest that environmental taxes and energy policies reduce industrial (hazardous and non-hazardous) waste. However, environmental tax reforms should take into consideration the deterioration in environmental quality, the increase in economic costs and undesirable social consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper focuses on long-term evidence on economic growth, international tourism, globalization, energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in OECD countries for the period of 1994–2014. The empirical analysis reveals that climate change is magnified by energy use, tourism and economic growth. An inverted U-shaped relationship is also found between international tourism and CO2 emissions. The contribution of international tourism to climate change in the early stages of development is thus diminished by globalization in the later stages. In other words, globalization appears to reduce carbon emissions from international tourism. The empirical results provide additional arguments for shaping regulatory frameworks aimed at reversing the current energy mix in OECD countries by facilitating energy efficiency and promoting renewable sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The governments of Britain, France, and the United States are seeking to promote renewed investment in nuclear power through metagovernance. Metagovernance describes the way governments can leverage state power and resources to shape the behavior of networked actors to advance policy goals. To metagovern, governments use a variety of policy tools but the factors shaping the design of these policy tools remains unclear. Grid-group cultural theory is used to show that the design of the policy tools used in metagovernance reflects both an underlying cultural bias within government and prevailing institutional circumstances. The paper demonstrates the utility of cultural theory in the study of metagovernance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is linked through energy–economy–environment–sustainability interactions. Efficient energy use in industrial countries will be meaningful for their economy and environment in the future. The efficiency of energy use differs from one country to another depending on varied consumption models. There has been significant progress in the world in understanding how energy is used and how it can be saved. However, there is much more work to be done in the world on efficient energy use and environmental quality improvements, and the investment funds required to accomplish this work are also in short supply. This study presents universal approach about the effect of future energy demand to economy, environment, and sustainability based on greater energy efficiency. Energy-efficient technology is an important tool for this goal. This paper aims to provide raised understanding on how tools for raised energy efficiency can contribute to decreased environmental effect and to increased economic value. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Developing countries have generally been overlooked in downstream carbon trading-based policy research. This can be attributed to the greater responsibility of developed economies for climate change, and the greater socio-demographic, political and technological challenges faced by their less-developed counterparts. This paper attempts to address this gap by examining the practicality of implementing Personal Carbon Trading (PCT) for personal road transport in Kenya. PCT is investigated with a focus on political considerations, potential system operation and the distributional impact of quota allocation to motorists. Three quota allocation methods are modelled using data from a survey of 500 motor vehicle owners in Nairobi and Mombasa counties. Equal per-capita, equal per-vehicle and needs-based allocation methods are modelled and assessed to determine the distributional impact on various groups of interest. Emissions were found to be highly correlated to vehicle engine size and the number of dependents per vehicle, but not to area of residence or income levels. None of the three allocation methods disproportionately imposed burdens on vulnerable groups, and all exhibited progressive tendencies. The proposed system is intended to add new insight into the possibility of PCT becoming a globally inclusive policy option. Key Policy Insights Despite PCT being a bold policy proposal even for developed countries, less developed counterparts can meet the political, institutional and technological requirements to implement it. The wealth of functionality available through SIM card features on cheap and abundant mobile phones may unlock a simple and cost-effective, globally-applicable PCT system. Public resistance to fuel price increases stems from the lower income demographic which is, conversely, rewarded with surpluses under PCT. Equal-per capita allocation remains the most progressive method. Needs-based allocation is highly progressive and may be worth considering when more stringent targets are deemed necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global energy policies embracing a transition to unconventional oil and gas development are hallmarks of many developed nations. Among these, the United Kingdom has framed the development of shale gas as one means to transition from high‐carbon fossil‐fuel consumption to low‐carbon alternatives. Yet the introduction of this industry and recent legislation associated with it have not been without controversy. Communities throughout the United Kingdom are engaged in sustained debates concerning climate change, health, the scale of extraction footprints, securitisation, and governance. Places such as Kirby Misperton, the focus of this article, are representative of many villages where questions abound about the role of justice at all stages and scales of governmental decision‐making. Using a legal geographic lens, this article examines narratives among local residents who are actively resisting the arrival of unconventional gas. I consider how the relationships between and among energy transition, policy, and justice have been interpreted by communities and argue for inequity and risk to be addressed in more transparent ways. I contend that highlighting counter‐narratives remains essential if powerful arguments by governments and others are to be negated. Fundamentally, true justice can only prevail when all stakeholders are considered legitimate and their opinions valid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is regarded as an engine of economic growth and an important ingredient of human survival and development, but it can lead to deterioration of environmental quality. The study investigates the energy environmental Kuznets curve (EEKC) during the 1990–2017 period for 144 countries using models for total energy, renewable energy, and non-renewable energy consumptions. We employ panel mean and quantile regressions, accounting for individual and distributional heterogeneities. It is found that the EEKC sustains among the higher middle-income countries while it cannot be verified at some lower-income quantiles due to the heterogeneous nature of the different groups of countries. The relationship between economic growth, total energy, and non-renewable energy consumption is positive and non-linear. The quantile estimations revealed mixed (positive and non-linear, inverted U-shape, U-shape, and N-shape) EEKC. The maximum and minimum turning values of GDP per capita for total energy consumption (is 43,201.58 and 89,630.49), for renewable energy consumption (53,535.07 and 89,869.41), and for non-renewable energy consumption (42,188.16 and 89,487.71). Urbanization and population growth had positive impacts on energy consumption while these effects become more significant as moving from low to high-income quantiles. The study implies that while the developed nations can adopt energy-efficient policies without compromising on the growth momentum and environment, this might be not recommended for the developing nations and it would be preferable for these countries to "grow first and clean up later." The study indicates the importance of the developed nations to support the developing countries to achieve economic growth along the EEKC by transferring energy-efficient technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic waste or e-waste is one of the global rising problems in developing countries like India and developed countries. E-waste comprises material that is valuable as well as toxic and has shoddier health and environment impact. This review paper presents an overview of global e-waste stats, health concerns of e-waste components along with the waste management, recycling, legislative polices and recommendations related to e-waste. Existing and future initiatives of e-waste management have been addressed by explaining the developed countries initiatives towards e-waste management. The key to success in terms of e-waste management such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) initiatives have been presented in a lucid manner. E-waste arena is a platform for business initiative for energy production (hydrogen and electricity) and precise metal recovery (gold, silver and platinum) through biotechnological approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquatic centres are popular recreational facilities in Australia and other developed countries. These buildings have experienced exponential demand over the past few decades. The growing desire for better indoor environmental quality in aquatic centres has resulted in a marked increase in energy consumption in this sector. With the existence of multiple user groups, achieving thermal comfort has always been challenging. Even though several thermal comfort studies are conducted in other building types, such studies are very limited with respect to aquatic centres. This paper analyses the thermal comfort conditions of various user groups in seven aquatic centres in Australia. Comfort measurements are performed through monitoring environmental parameters and surveying swimmers, staff and spectators. The results revealed the variation of air temperatures among the buildings, resulting in high level of thermal discomfort for the spectators and staff in some of the buildings. The thermal sensation of the staff and spectators had good correlation with the indoor temperatures and PMVs. Altering temperature settings according to the seasons will help to improve the comfort with respect to the adaptation and expectation of the occupants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decentralized blockchain technology has been increasingly recognized as a game changer for all centralized things, including traditional centralized energy. Meanwhile, the energy sector has been undergoing transformation from a traditional centralized energy supply system to a distributed energy resource. This work is aimed to explore what the decentralized blockchain technology means to the changing energy sector from the perspectives of basic research and real world applications. After introducing the background information of the blockchain technology, this work investigates the number of publications, subject categories, research areas, cooperation network, research hotspots by combining the bibliometric technique and visual analysis. And then, real-world application cases corresponding to research hotspots are offered. The key findings are as follows: (i) the basic research on the blockchain technology in the energy sector is growing rapidly over time, which means that blockchain energy is a rising research field. (ii) China, a developing country, leads the basic research of blockchain in the energy sector in terms of the total number of publications, institutions and highly cited papers, and cooperative relationship. (iii) keyword hotspot analysis and keyword trend analysis indicate the future research directions of blockchain technology in the energy sector: the decentralized energy market, micro grid, smart grid, energy internet, smart contract, peer-to-peer, renewable energy and electric vehicle. (iv) The real-world application cases are mainly concentrated in the developed countries, especially in the United States, the European Union and Australia. There are relatively few typical application cases in developing countries, which is sharply different from the results of basic research. This work could serve to stimulate meaningful discussion from basic research to real-world applications of blockchain technology in the energy sector. • Exploring what the blockchain technology mean to the energy sector. • This work combines bibliometric analysis and visual analysis. • Characteristics of research of blockchain technology in energy sector are offered. • Research hotspots is used to linking the research and typical application cases. • Imbalance between basic research and typical applications is uncovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Review of Policy Research is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)