How can new energy development reduce CO2 emissions: Empirical evidence of inverted U-shaped relationship in China.

This article is based on the statistical yearbook data of 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Tibet Autonomous Region) from 2000 to 2017, a total of 18 years of statistical yearbook data was used to conduct in-depth research on the reduction of CO₂ emissions from the development of new energy in the region. First, it is proposed that the regional new energy development has a significant negative effect on CO₂ emissions. Meanwhile, this impact has a significant time lag effect, and the development of new energy cannot be quickly and effectively applied in the short term to replace traditional fossil energy in the dynamic model. Therefore, there is a significant positive impact in the short term, but the significant negative effect of new energy development on CO₂ emission can be shown in the long run. Secondly, the new energy development has a significant non-linear impact on CO₂ emissions, showing an inverted U-shaped relationship, which confirms the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) of CO₂ emissions based on new energy development. Finally, in order to alleviate the continuous impact of national economic development on CO₂ emissions, the DID model is used to prove that the level of technological innovation has a significant moderating effect on the CO₂ emission reduction effect of new energy development, which confirms theoretically the importance of technological innovation in accelerating new energy substitution and improving energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]