Econometrics of Anthropogenic Emissions, Green Energy-Based Innovations, and Energy Intensity across OECD Countries

Abstract

The increasing global attention on climate change underscores the importance of alternative energy technologies with emission reduction effects. However, there are several caveats of economic productivity and environmental sustainability tradeoffs that require empirical consideration—owing to long-term effects on climate change. Here, we examine the relationship between emissions, green energy-based innovations, and energy research and development across energy-intensive OECD countries while accounting for industrial structure dynamics. We utilize several novel time series and panel estimation techniques including time-varying causality, defactored instrumental variable-based homogeneous, and heterogeneous slope dynamics that control for unobserved common factors. Our empirical assessment emphasizes the significance of energy research and development in expanding green energy innovations while reducing long-term emissions. Conversely, continual dependence on obsolete energy research and development may worsen environmental sustainability. However, the inclusion of green energy technologies offset environmental pollution without compromising economic productivity. Besides, the mitigation effect of energy research and development is channeled through a decline in energy intensity and technological advancement. We show that green energy-based innovations and energy research and development play a critical role in achieving environmental sustainability in OECD countries.