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Résumé: De manière agrégée, les PME sont de grandes consommatrices d'énergie et ont des impacts environnementaux considérables au niveau mondial. Malgré cela, elles attirent encore peu l'attention des chercheurs et des responsables des politiques publiques. Pourtant, sans leur contribution, l'atteinte des cibles nationales en matière énergétique et environnementale est improbable. En ce sens, il devient essentiel de mieux comprendre ce qui les incite à devenir plus mature au niveau énergétique. La présente étude adopte une analyse multiniveau en considérant les aspects individuel, organisationnel, contextuel pour identifier les déterminants de la maturité énergétique des PME. Une étude menée auprès de 409 PME québécoises permet d'établir que ce sont les facteurs organisationnels intangibles qui sont les principaux déterminants de la maturité énergétique dans les PME québécoises. Les facteurs contextuels n'ont pas d'influence et un seul facteur individuel, l'âge du dirigeant, exerce une influence limitée. Cette reconnaissance de la prépondérance des facteurs organisationnels intangibles est un apport aux écrits sur le sujet qui ne font pas cette distinction lorsqu'ils considèrent les freins et accélérateurs des pratiques d'efficacité énergétique. Cela procure aussi un enseignement pratique important: l'acquisition de compétences et d'attitudes proactives dans les PME envers l'efficacité énergétique est un levier d'action à prioriser. In an aggregate manner, SMEs are very large consumers of energy and have significant environmental impacts worldwide. Nevertheless, they still attract little attention from researchers and public policymakers. Yet, without their contribution, the achievement of national energy and environmental targets is unlikely. In this sense, it becomes essential to better understand what motivates them to become more energetically mature. This study adopts a multi-level analysis that considers individual, organizational, contextual aspects to identify the determinants of SME energy maturity. A study of 409 Quebec SMEs shows that intangible organizational factors are determinants of energy maturity in Quebec SMEs. Contextual factors have no influence and only one individual factor, the age of the leader, has a limited influence. This recognition of the preponderance of intangible organizational factors is a contribution to the literature on the subject, which does not make this distinction when considering the obstacles and the accelerators of energy efficiency practices. It also provides an important practical lesson: the development of proactive skills and attitudes in SMEs towards energy efficiency is a lever of action to prioritize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany has not yet made significant progress toward achieving SDGs 7 and 13. This challenge can be attributed to the underlying financialization problem in Germany, as well as implementation issues related to energy efficiency, particularly in coal and gas, and renewable energy consumption. Given these circumstances, Germany is facing challenges in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing this issue may necessitate a policy realignment, which is the primary focus of this study. In this context, our study employs various wavelet-based tools, including wavelet coherence, multivariate wavelet coherence, and wavelet-based causality, to delve into the co-movements, causality, and direction of causality between the load capacity factor (LF) and key factors such as energy efficiency (gas and coal), technological innovation, renewable electricity, and financial development, focusing on Germany during the period from 1990Q1 to 2020Q4. The results from wavelet coherence, corroborated by wavelet cohesion, indicate that in the short and medium term, improvements in coal efficiency, gas efficiency, financial development, and renewable energy are associated with an increase in LF, thereby contributing to ecological quality. Furthermore, the multivariate wavelet coherence results underscore the significant impact of considering or not considering the effect of a third variable in the interrelationship between LF and its determinants, with the effect being more pronounced when the third variable is taken into account. Although this policy framework primarily targets the objectives of SDG 13 and 7, its applicability extends to other EU nations. The primary significance of this study is its proposal of an SDG-focused policy framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the top priorities of most countries around the world is sustainable development, to achieve which financial inclusion is identified as one of the key elements. Thus, unlike previous studies, the current study aims to channel the impact of financial inclusion on energy efficiency by constructing a parametric-based index that covers availability, accessibility, and usage of the former. The index provides an overall picture of financial services in all the three covered aspects. The analysis based on novel econometric time-series approaches, the method of moment quantile regression and the robust least square approach, shows that financial inclusion increases energy efficiency. The impact is overall positive for each quantile, i.e. 25th–90th. The impact of green innovation, human capital, and political risk is also supportive for energy efficiency. However, the impact of political risk improvement exhibits negative in the initial stages and turns positive later. In terms of policy implications, broadening financial inclusion base with the promotion of green innovation and human capital is important to achieve higher energy efficiency. In the meantime, improvement in the political risk profile should also be considered for a stable financial system to pave the way for increasing energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limiting CO2 emissions is crucial for sustainable development, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation, ensuring a more resilient and cleaner future. Prioritizing sustainable urbanization renewable energy, and energy efficiency is vital for achieving this prosperous and sustainable future. As a result, we adopt the Fourier testing approach for stationary, cointegration, estimator, and causality, to scrutinize the role of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and urbanization on CO2 emissions in Finland over the period between 1990 and 2020, controlling economic growth and trade openness. The empirical analysis of the Fourier ARDL estimator establishes that energy efficiency measures such as gas and oil efficiency exhibit an adverse effect on CO2 emissions, so energy efficiency mitigates CO2 emissions. Similarly, the study also found that urbanization and renewable energy reduce CO2 emissions. Conversely, economic growth and trade openness induce CO2 emissions. Additionally, the Fourier-Toda-Yamamoto method provides robust evidence regarding the long-term implications of the examined factors. Based on this result, the study emphasizes that implementing a regulatory framework to enhance energy efficiency, promote renewable energy adoption, and support sustainable urban development will be an essential strategy in the global effort to attain the net-zero emissions target, which offers valuable insights to other countries seeking to transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving energy efficiency is an important pathway for the development of green and low-carbon economy. Based on the evidence from China's green finance reform pilot zone, we apply the data of Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2005 to 2020 to analyze the action mechanism among green finance, technological innovation and energy efficiency. We find that green finance effectively promotes energy efficiency. Moreover, the analysis of action mechanism reveals that while green finance can drive green technology innovation, only high-quality green technology innovation (green invention patents) can significantly increase energy efficiency. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that green finance has a more significant effect on increasing energy efficiency in regions with large-scale economic development and weak environmental regulation. Furthermore, digital technology can amplify the driving effect of green finance on energy efficiency, and the higher the level of digital technology development, the greater the driving effect of green finance. The findings provide empirical evidence and policy implications for building a market-based green financial system and promoting green and efficient development in regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GHG emissions growth of Vietnam is highest all over the globe and the carbon intensity of this economy is considered second highest in Asian economies. As the energy intensity level is rising constantly, thereby, the predictions indicate that Vietnam will become highest GHG emission in the region. In order to address the issue, the current article aims to investigate the impact of green finance, technology advancement, energy efficiency, industrialization, and population growth on sustainable development in Vietnamese context. The time chosen for the study is 1991 to 2020. The study has used the Dynamic Auto-regressive Distributed Lags (DARDL) and the Bayesian Auto-regressive Distributed Lags (BARDL) model for data analysis. Findings exposed that green finance, technology advancement, REO, REC, industrialization, and population growth all are positively connected with sustainable development. The study guides the regulators in establishing regulations related to sustainable development through the adoption of green finance, energy, and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of green innovation has dramatically increased in the recent times because of the potential benefits attached with it. Therefore, in order to make the technology more affordable, green innovation is the key to enhancing the affordability factor. On the other hand, in order to safeguard the environment, the role of media is one of fundamental importance. In contrast, energy consumption is often regarded as a key indicator of economic prosperity, mostly at the cost of the environment. Hence, the present study attempts to explore the asymmetric effect of the film and drama industry, energy efficiency, and economic growth on green innovation, with the help of the latest quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) method for the period 2000Q1 to 2019Q4. The results have reported a positive and significant association of the Film and Drama Industry, Energy Efficiency, and economic growth on the quantiles of Green Innovation. Based on the findings, it is recommended that there is a dire need to develop content that promotes the green innovation, whereas, more investments are to be sought after, so as to enhance the level of energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines causality relation between the quality of national institutional frameworks designed to ensure higher energy efficiency and the distance to the achievement of the EU Commission targets in terms of energy consumption, using a panel of 21 EU member states. Through panel unit root tests and an estimated VAR model, our results reveal that the quality of a nation's institutional and economic energy efficiency framework does not significantly influence the gap between annual energy consumption and related EU targets, as prescribed by the energy efficiency EU Directives. However, the results show a bi-directional causality relationship suggests that the nation's institutional framework on energy efficiency should be improved. According to the impulse response function, this relationship is more related to a short-run perspective. Hence, a strong correlation exists between the level of achieving the reduction targets on energy consumption and the level of gas emissions. Our findings further reveal that the level of reported GHCs significantly influences national regulations and strategies for gas emission reductions. This research highlights the importance of each EU member state creating an appropriate legislative and institutional framework that promotes energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A region-adaptive hierarchical framework for realizing Sustainable Development Goal 7.3 is proposed in this paper, using Nigeria as a case study for strategy adoption and adaptation. In 2013, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rolled out strategic plans to phase out incandescent lamps by 2020, as a critical component essential to realizing the SDG 7 by 2030. However, at the expiration of the 2020 deadline, this ambition has not materialized. Current regulatory indicators for sustainable energy shared by the World Bank and the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicated poor-to-average performances among member states, which suggests the need to adopt ingenious strategies to increase electricity access and accelerate energy efficiency by 2030. In this paper, we systematically reviewed literatures on past campaigns in ECOWAS member states and inferentially call for a revisit of the campaign to phase out incandescent bulbs as a critical component for achieving energy efficiency. The paper also pinpoints some domain factors that are militating against the realization of SDG 7 in Nigeria. We proposed an all-inclusive top-down hierarchical framework which involve all relevant stakeholders (national, state and local governments, delineated wards in local governments, street representatives and household heads), civil society organizations, and educational institutions, for convergence, efficient collaboration, synergy and achievement of goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving energy efficiency is essential for sustainable development; therefore, an accurate assessment of energy efficiency is needed to inform policymakers on how to set energy efficiency goals. Using a stochastic frontier model, we estimate energy efficiencies of 44 countries in Europe from 1990 to 2015. Comparing average energy efficiencies across countries among three time periods, 1990 to 1998, 1999 to 2007, and 2008 to 2015, we find the following trends: (1) countries with highest energy efficiency cluster geographically suggesting spillover effects; (2) from the first period to the second period, 67.44% of European countries' average energy efficiency increased, while only 59.09% of European countries' average energy efficiencies increased between the first and the third period; (3) gains in energy efficiency may be levelling off or decreasing over time; and (4) when countries face economic downturn, they experience a decrease in energy efficiency signalling possible future decreases in energy efficiency in light of the recent recessions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, we compute potential energy savings from a counterfactual experiment in which countries realize full efficiency. The results show substantial energy savings can be obtained by Russia in particular, and less savings can be obtained by countries with smaller populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capacity-building is acknowledged as an essential requirement for addressing environmental and developmental challenges in developing countries. In particular, the capacity to manage technological change is an important prerequisite for climate change mitigation, adaptation and green growth. Despite the importance of such capacity, there are surprisingly few empirical accounts unpacking its different dimensions and exploring how it might be built in developing countries in the context of climate and sustainable development challenges. In this paper, we contribute to this sparse literature through an in-depth qualitative case study on energy efficiency in India. Specifically, we take a systemic and evolutionary perspective to investigate how the Bureau of Energy Efficiency developed and implemented its programs to promote energy efficiency in household appliances, light-emitting-diode lamps and energy-intensive industries – and how in doing so, both drew upon existing capacity within and outside the country, and also built new capacity, to achieve significant energy savings. Key policy insights Since the capacity to manage technological change is distributed among a range of actors, policymakers require the ability to understand capacity needs from multiple actors' perspectives. Policymakers need to respond to evolving capacity needs over the course of a program – from strategic program design, trust-building and resource mobilization in early stages, to administration in later stages. 'System operators/integrators' can play a crucial role during the early stages of a program by helping develop capacity and sustaining it by creating a demand for such capacity, as well as bringing together actors, enabling coordination, and building coalitions among them. Preliminary analysis suggests that the Bureau of Energy Efficiency programs investigated in this paper resulted in significant energy savings and CO2 emission reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper aims to find scientifically valid approaches to improving the environmental safety of technologies for drying grain materials and granular fertilizers. The methodology for environmental and economic efficiency justification of the energy-saving multi-stage shelf dryers with a convective fluidized bed drying provides design and operational parameters control. Meta-analysis of energy-effective and eco-friendly dryers based on the bibliometric method and the Scopus database is used for this study. The results showed that pollutants concentration in the exhausts could be controlled by modifying the design and the required number of shelves, ensuring the required material residence time to achieve the desired moisture content. The production of electricity using alternative resources like biogas and biofertilizer produced from the anaerobic digestate allows for achieving several Sustainable Development Goals simultaneously. The Goals in scope include Goal 6 Clean Water and Sanitation, Goal 7 Affordable and Clean Energy, Goal 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 13 Climate Action, and Goal 15 Life On Land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing energy efficiency is important for sustainable economic development and environmental-related issues such as carbon emissions. Therefore, measuring energy efficiency is crucial for countries to achieve economic and environmental objectives. In this study, we utilize the TOPSIS method with the intent of monitoring the energy efficiency of Turkey from the 1980 to 2018 period. Several variables such as renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption, GDP, labor force, and capital stock are employed in calculating energy efficiency scores. Thereafter, we analyze the long-term, symmetric and asymmetric effects of some contextual variables such as capital stock-labor force ratio, renewable energy consumption-total energy consumption ratio, and carbon emission-total energy consumption ratio on energy efficiency via ARDL and nonlinear ARDL models. Results from the linear model indicate that an increase in the renewable energy consumption-total energy consumption ratio and capital stock-labor force ratio increase the energy efficiency. In contrast, an increase in the carbon emission-total energy consumption ratio decreases it. The nonlinear ARDL model, on the other hand, signals asymmetric effects in the long-run but not in the short-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial agglomeration (FA) may play an essential role in enhancing energy efficiency (EE) and, thus, is important from both theoretical and empirical viewpoints. However, few studies have investigated the causal nonlinear relationship between FA and EE. Hence, we first extend the novel ray slacks-based measure with global technology to evaluate the urban EE in China during 2003–2018. Next, we reexamine the nonlinear causality of FA on EE and then explore the underlying impact mechanism. The empirical results show that China's urban EE is generally relatively low with distinct patterns of regional differences. Moreover, we find that the causal relationship between FA and EE follows an inverted U-shaped function rather than a linear one. FA promotes the improvement of EE only up to a certain threshold point, after which it reverses into an inhibitory effect. A further analysis based on the two-regime spatial Durbin panel model suggests that FA can indeed improve the EE of surrounding cities through positive externalities when the degree of FA in focal cities is not substantially greater than that in surrounding cities. However, when financial resources absorbed in certain focal cities become increasingly higher than that in most surrounding cities, the positive spillover effect would gradually disappear and even reverse into an undesirable siphon, thereby inhibiting the improvement of overall EE. These findings provide new insights for understanding the role of FA in sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries are becoming the factory of the world where sustainable production is still far from developed countries. However, the acceleration of the 4.0 revolution with a close connection with the Internet of Things (IoT) achievements has forced developing countries to integrate with the trend of a circular and sustainable economy. In this paper, the emerging digital technologies of Industry 4.0 which concentration on the contribution of IoT, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Big Data in remanufacturing are reviewed. Based on IoT, remanufacturing, circular economy, and smart manufacturing, this paper has made the assessment and discussed the challenges and barriers of the 4th industrial revolution to remanufacturing, as well as the amazing opportunities that IoT technologies can contribute to the growth of the remanufacturing industry in developing countries. A value-creation perspective consists of the product which is remanufactured, the equipment and processes of remanufacturing which are adopted and associated with troubles of organization, are used to identify trends and gaps. Suggestions from findings show that it is necessary to detect the combination between cyber-physical systems and the IoT architecture to assistant smart remanufacture, parallel with developing data and infrastructures of communication and circular economy management models. It is clear that, in order to successfully develop the remanufacturing industry, emerging economies need to fully utilize the achievements of IoT technology through economic development strategies and policies in line with Industry 4.0 to create breakthroughs in sustainable circular economy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]