NEOM Smart City the urban oasis in Saudi desert (green energy technologies, policies and strategies)

The 4th International Conference on Energy & Environment 2013 (ICEE2013) was organized by the Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) to provide a platform for creating and sharing ideas among engineers, researchers, scientists, industrialists and students in sustainable green energy and technologies. The theme ‘Shaping a Sustainable Future through Advancement in Green Energy Technology’ is in line with the University's vision to be a leading global energy university that shapes a sustainable future.The general scopes of the conference are renewable energy, smart grid, green technology, energy policies and economics, sustainable green energy and environment, sustainable education, international cooperation and innovation and technology transfer. Five international keynote speakers delivered their speeches in specialized areas of green energy technology and sustainability. In addition, the conference highlights several special parallel sessions by notable invited presenters in their niche areas, which are:Hybrid Energy Power Quality & Distributed Energy Smart Grid Nuclear Power & Technologies Geohazard Management Greener Environment for Sustainability Advances in Computational Fluid Dynamics The research papers presented in ICEE2013 are included in this volume of IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (EES). EES is abstracted and indexed in SCOPUS, GeoBase, GeoRef, Compendex, Inspec, Chemical s Service, NASA Astrophysics Data System, and International Nuclear Information System (INIS).With the comprehensive programme outline, the organizing committee hopes that the ICEE2013 was a notable intellectual sharing session for the research and academic community in Malaysia and regionally. The organizing committee expresses gratitude to the ICEE2013 delegates for their great support and contributions to the event.

The reliance on fossil fuels for energy production has led to environmental degradation and climate change. The burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming and air pollution. As a result, there is a pressing need for alternative energy sources that are sustainable and eco-friendly. Green energy technologies offer a promising solution to this problem by harnessing renewable resources such as sunlight, wind, and water to generate clean energy. However, the adoption of green energy technologies faces challenges such as high initial costs and limited infrastructure. This study aims to explore the potential of green energy technologies in addressing environmental sustainability and promoting eco-friendliness. This paper employed a literature review methodology to examine the current state of green energy technologies and their impact on the environment. The review includes studies, reports, and articles on various green energy technologies, such as solar power, wind energy, and hydropower. The literature review also explored the benefits of green energy technologies, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved air quality, and energy security. Additionally, the review examines the challenges and barriers to the adoption of green energy technologies, such as policy constraints and technological limitations. The findings revealed that green energy technologies have a positive impact on the environment. Solar power, for example, is a clean and renewable energy source that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Wind energy is another green energy technology that can help mitigate climate change and promote sustainable development. Hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy are also viable options for generating clean energy. Despite the benefits of green energy technologies, challenges such as high costs and limited infrastructure remain barriers to their widespread adoption. Ultimately, investing in green energy technologies is essential for achieving environmental sustainability and ensuring a cleaner, healthier planet for future generations.

China has experienced rapid economic growth that requires high energy consumption. This may hinder the achievement of sustainable development goals. The adoption of green energy technologies (GET), efficiency of natural resources (NR), and stringency of environmental policies (EVP) are essential to facilitate sustainable development in the country. In this regard, the current study aims to analyze the impact of GET, NR, and EVP on the green growth (GG) and energy transition (ET) of the country. For this purpose, we applied the unique econometric technique “Bootstrap Fourier quantile causality” on quarterly data from 1996Q1 to 2020Q4. The findings reveal that all the variables have unidirectional causality with GG and ET. Moreover, GET and NR had a substantial impact on GG, demonstrating that both GET and NR are crucial drivers of GG. In the case of ET, GET had a strong positive and increasing impact on ET from low to high quantiles. Similarly, NR also demonstrated a substantial impact on ET at higher quantiles only. This highlights that a higher GET and well-endowed NR may accelerate ET. EVP had a very strong synergistic impact on both GG and ET, along with GET and NR. EVP reinforced and intensified the effects of Get and NR on GG and ET. Therefore, China must focus on the development of effective EVPs and their uniform stringency across all regions to achieve a GG and sustainable ET. Moreover, investment in green technologies, the provision of financial incentives to foster the adoption of green technologies, region-based development of strategies to promote the consumption of renewable energy sources, and their integration into the national grid may significantly contribute to GG and ET.

Green finance, energy, technology, and fintech are essential drivers of a sustainable environment and the promotion of sustainable development. This study analyzes the causal relationships among green finance, green energy, green technology, and fintech indices. To ensure the reliability of our findings, we utilize daily data from reputable sources such as S&P Green Bond for green finance, S&P Global Clean Energy for green energy, Renewable Energy and Clean Technology for green technology, and S&P Kensho Future Payments for fintech indices. Following our objective, a Vector Autoregressive Regression (VAR) model is constructed first, followed by Granger causality and impulse response analysis. The causality results indicate bidirectional causal relationships between green finance and green energy and green technology, as well as one-way causal relationships from green finance to green technology and from green energy to green technology. Impulse response analysis shows that the green energy index is a significant shock transmitter to the green bond index. In contrast, the green technology index is a significant shock transmitter to the fintech index. The findings suggest that capital support for green finance is vital for promoting green energy and technology and supporting sustainable development.

Green energy strategies for sustainable development

Examining the barriers and motivators affecting European decision-makers in the development of smart and green energy technologies

This paper explores the challenges and opportunities for green energy and environment transition in South Asia, a region that faces the dilemma of meeting its growing energy demand while reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and environmental vulnerability. The region has rich renewable energy sources and potential for energy efficiency improvement, but it also relies heavily on fossil fuels and suffers from various barriers and constraints that hinder its green energy development. The region needs policies that can achieve economic growth, social welfare, and environmental sustainability coherently and effectively. Utilizing the thematic literature review approach, this paper examines the literature on four main topics: (1) the estimation of green energy resources potential and scenarios in South Asia; (2) the comparison of green energy targets and policies in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries; (3) the evaluation of green energy deployment and performance in different sectors; and (4) the identification of green energy transition challenges and opportunities in South Asia. This paper fills some research gaps in the literature by providing a comprehensive, comparative, holistic, and integrated analysis of green energy and environment policies in South Asia, using various data sources, methods, frameworks, criteria, indicators, scenarios, impacts, trade-offs, drivers, barriers, best practices, lessons learned, and policy recommendations. This paper also develops a conceptual model for the green energy transition in South Asia, which consists of five key variables: green energy potential, green energy policies, green energy deployment, green energy performance, and green energy transition. The main findings and implications of this paper are that South Asia has a huge opportunity to pursue a green energy and environment transition that can address its multiple challenges and aspirations, but this requires overcoming various obstacles and constraints that hinder its progress. This paper suggests some policy options and strategies to enhance the green energy and environment policies in South Asia, such as developing a clear and consistent policy framework, enhancing regional cooperation and collaboration, leveraging information technology and data analytics, emphasizing sustainability and resilience, and engaging with other stakeholders and partners.

Modeling the influence of critical factors on the adoption of green energy technologies

Sustaining the environment is essential for Saudi Arabia, especially given the country’s high dependence on oil rents. While these rents have historically fueled economic growth, they have also contributed significantly to environmental degradation. Sustainable resource use and a transition from conventional to renewable energy sources are essential for achieving carbon neutrality and keeping the upsurge in global temperature below 2°C. In addition, sustainable practices help to preserve ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources, which are essential for the survival of all living organisms. Consequently, this study fills a significant empirical gap by investigating the moderating effects of technological innovation, environmental innovation, and green energy technologies in the oil rents and environmental sustainability nexus in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2022. Although there are significant direct associations between oil rents and environmental sustainability, the existing literature has not investigated empirical research on the moderating effects of technological innovation, environmental innovation, and green energy technologies in the oil rents and environmental sustainability nexus. To do this, the study implements the model of dynamic AutoRegressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) simulations. The results indicate that rising oil rents, economic growth, trade, and urbanization in Saudi Arabia worsen environmental sustainability while increasing green energy technologies, technological innovation, and environmental innovation enhances environmental sustainability. Interestingly, the findings of the moderating effects of technological innovation, environmental innovation, and green energy technologies in the oil rents and environmental sustainability nexus show that the predicted coefficients of the multiplicative interaction terms are both positive and statistically significant. This demonstrates that these technologies play crucial roles in mitigating the negative effects of oil rents on environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia. Based on the outcomes, promoting technological innovation, prioritizing investments in green sources and reducing dependence on natural resource extraction are key policy recommendations that can significantly bolster environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia.

Promoting green energy is generally considered a crucial way to mitigate energy-related CO2 emissions. However, the level at which a country's expenditure on green energy technologies interacts with renewable energy consumption to save the planet has been ignored in the literature. Within the context of the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model, this study investigates the interaction effect of renewable energy and expenditure on green energy technologies in mitigating CO2 emissions in G7 countries over the period 1990-2017. The empirical results based on the Method of Moments-Quantile Regression (MM-QR) with fixed effectssuggest that renewable energy and expenditure on green energy technologies have a negative and heterogeneous effect on CO2 emissions. The interaction term has a stronger negative and heterogeneous effect across quantiles distribution of CO2 emissions. This suggests that the extent to which renewable energy exerts downward pressure on CO2 emissions is dependent on countries' expenditures on green energy technologies. In addition, the effect of the interaction term is stronger in countries with lower levels of CO2 emissions. Given these findings, the study suggests the need to promote investment in green energy technologies as a catalytic converter to mitigate CO2 emissions.

Household fuelwood consumption and determinants of green energy technology adoption in rural Ethiopia

Which firms benefit from investments in green energy technologies? – The effect of energy costs

Developing new green energy technologies is one of the significant solutions to meet the growing energy demand worldwide. However, due to ongoing conflicts, the rapid growth of green hydrogen energy technologies encounters various technical barriers, such as the declining adoption of wind and solar energy in several Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. This study elucidates the importance of green hydrogen energy globally. It highlights the shift toward sustainability based on insights from recent research conducted between 2024 and 2025 and global energy trends aimed at enhancing environmental and energy security by 2050.

Exploring the role of foreign direct investment (FORGDIR) in promoting the influence of green levies (GRENLEV) on green energy technologies (GETs) is pivotal for achieving sustainable development goals. This study therefore, explores the influence of FORGDIR on the nexus between green levies (GRENLEV) and green energy technologies (GETs). We employed quantitative research paradigm as we extracted data from the quantitative method. Data was extracted from the World Bank Database and “Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development” (OECD) for 20 years from 2003 to 2022 relating to Nigeria. After controlling for climate change and greenhouse emanations, the study found that GRENLEV is positive and significantly related to GETs. It was also revealed that FORGDIR is negative and significantly GETs. It was finally documented that the interaction between FORGDIR and GRENLEV (GREENT*FDI) is negative and significantly related to GETs, implying that FORGDIR reverses the positive effect of GRENLEV on GETs. Thus, it requires a careful policy design and regulatory frameworks that align FORGDIR with green objectives which in return stimulate sustainable investment in GETs. Therefore, this study can provide a useful information for the policymakers and regulators in providing strategies for green growth and sustainable development goals.

Purpose This study aims to develop a conceptual model for GET products that participate in brands’ online communities, based on social cognitive theory (SCT), with environmental factors, personal factors and behavioral factors being used to explore whether users of GET products participate in brand online communities as well as to determine whether participation in a community forum causes users to stick with GET products. In addition, expectancy confirmation is also considered in the research model. Design/methodology/approach This research examines whether environmental and personal factors have a positive effect on the behavioral factors of Gogoro users, and then further effects on green energy technology (GET) product stickiness for users in online communities. A website was used to distribute links to two Facebook club sites: Gogoro Series 2 Fan Club and the Gogoro Fan Club. The respondents’ qualification criteria were restricted to people who had used Gogoro products and participated in a Gogoro online community. A total of 581 valid responses were collected for structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, and expectancy confirmation was found to be moderate from a hierarchical regression. Findings The results of SEM show that virtual interactivity has a positive effect on product-related content, and social norms were found to have significant effects on creating product-related content. Brand community identification, perceived relative advantage and brand knowledge self-efficacy are found to be related to both creating and contributing product-related content. Also, creating product-related content and contributing user participation behaviors influence ET product stickiness. Practical implications Online community managers can boost user participation by increasing interaction, and community identification by enhancing users’ perceptions of benefiting from participating in their communities. Companies can also encourage users to create product-related content to increase users’ stickiness to GET products. Further, GET companies can try to enhance users’ intrinsic connection with other community users to increase their brand community identification if they want to increase users’ willingness to participate. Originality/value This study adopted SCT to measure the GET product stickiness formation process in an attempt to determine what factors boost user participation based on triadic reciprocality. Also, expectancy confirmation plays an important role in the relationship between community users’ participation behaviors and GET product stickiness. The results indicated that it was appropriate to add virtual interactivity to environmental factors and perceived relative advantage to personal factors to measure users’ participation in an online social community. Actual product users’ online community participation behavior could be a very influential indicator of actual product stickiness formation.