Environmental Economic Efficiency Research Articles

Sustainable economic growth and energy security nexus: A stochastic frontier analysis across OECD countries

This study aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the sustainable economic growth undertaken by 22 OECD countries from 2005 to 2021. Sustainable economic growth is conceived as environmental-economic efficiency, that is the ability to increase GDP while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An efficiency effect frontier model is employed to simultaneously estimate the production frontier, technical inefficiency, and the effects of a composite set of institutional drivers that includes environmental taxation, economic globalization, and energy security. This study makes several contributions. Firstly, it expands upon the traditional single-output stochastic frontier model by incorporating a multi-output distance function. Secondly, it includes GHG emissions as an undesirable output in the analysis, providing unbiased assessments of sustainable economic growth. Thirdly, it explores the effects of an under-investigated institutional variable that has become crucial amid the current geopolitical uncertainty: the energy self-sufficiency represented by the energy import independence. Empirical results shed light on a decreasing trend in environmental-economic efficiency that started in 2009 and worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, environmental taxation and economic globalization have curbed efficiency. Lastly, energy self-sufficiency has been revealed as a crucial driver to enhance the green growth of OECD countries.

Evaluation of the Performance of Different Types of Fibrous Concretes Produced by Using Wollastonite.

Production of cement and aggregate used in cement-based composites causes many environmental and energy problems. Decreasing the usage of cement and aggregate is a crucial and currently relevant challenge to provide sustainability. Inert materials can also be used instead of cement and aggregates, similar to pozzolanic materials, and they have positive effects on cement-based composites. One of the inert materials used in cement-based composites is wollastonite (calcium metasilicate-CaSiO3), which has been investigated and attracted attention of many researchers. This article presents state-of-the-art research regarding fibrous concretes produced with wollastonite, such as mortars, conventional concrete, engineered cementitious composites, geopolymer concrete, self-compacting concrete, ultra-high-performance concrete and pavement concrete. The use of synthetic wollastonite, which is a novel issue, its high aspect ratio and allowing the use of waste material are also evaluated. Studies in the literature show that the use of wollastonite in different types of concrete improves performance properties, such as mechanical/durability properties, and provides environmental–economic efficiency. It has been proven by studies that wollastonite is a material with an inert structure, and, therefore, its behavior is similar to that of a fiber in cementitious composites due to its acicular particle structure.

Development of CO2 efficiency index for evaluating sustainability of microelectrical discharge drilling process

Recently, there has been a growing awareness of environmental issues, and the concept of sustainability has been introduced. This concept applies to different fields, including the manufacturing industry. This study focuses on the sustainability of the micro-electrical discharge machining (EDM) drilling process. In EDM technology, the critical aspects of sustainability are consumed energy, electrode wear, gas emissions, and generated waste. The operational conditions impact consumption and emissions. The aim of this study is to develop a CO2 efficiency index for evaluating the environmental–economic efficiency of the micro-EDM drilling process. The index was calculated as the emissions that occurred during machining and logistic activities divided by the added value, and it was expressed as the kg equivalent CO2 per unit money. For the emissions, all process activities that have an environmental impact were considered, such as transportation, absorbed energy generation, production of fumes by the dielectric during machining, and emissions attributed to the production of nonconforming pieces. The proposed index was applied to a medical case study in which titanium bone plates were produced for fractures of small body parts. It was found that the process performance significantly depended on the operation conditions of the dielectric fluid and electrode. The material removal rate (MRR) significantly influenced the index. Quality problems and scraping influenced the overall performance significantly, whereas dielectric management had a moderate effect. The optimum conditions were determined by varying the dielectric fluid, electrode material, and process parameters. Demineralized water was the best dielectric because it facilitated a high MRR, whereas hydrocarbon oil resulted in a high quality and a low scrap rate. Vegetable oil caused problems, resulting in a low MRR and poor quality. Further investigations should be conducted to improve its performance in microdrilling applications.

Ключевые аспекты эффективности технологии очистки отходящих газов ТЭЦ от SO2, NOX, CO2 и практические рекомендации по ее реализации

In this paper, based on the results obtained, a general assessment of the integrated waste gas treatment technology of the TPP was carried out in terms of its technological and environmental-economic efficiency. The principal possibility of implementing the technology of cleaning waste gases from SO2 and NOx in a continuous mode is shown. When using the developed technology, the sulfur distribution in the gases obtained after purification is ~ 5%, and the main part – 95% is captured by the carbonate melt of alkali metals (Na, K, Li). Extraction of NOx into the melt is ~60%. Thus, already at the stage of chemical absorption of waste gases, favorable prerequisites are created for deep purification of gases from sulfur and toxic nitrogen compounds. An assessment of the economic efficiency of using the developed technology for burning coals with and without a high sulfur content has been carried out. A comparative analysis of the results of the cost of coal without sulfur with the cost of coal with a high sulfur content showed a significant economic effect, formed due to the difference in the cost of coal without sulfur and high sulfur content. Recommendations have been issued in relation to the conditions of small boiler plants operating on coal combustion, which will optimize the organization of the technology and use it in continuous operation.

Retraction Note: Evaluation of regional environmental economic efficiency based on GIS big data and improved neural network

Retraction Note: Evaluation of regional environmental economic efficiency based on GIS big data and improved neural network

Retraction Note: Characteristics of air pollution and environmental economic efficiency in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas

In my country’s urban development system, the urban development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has driven the overall economic development of our country, but the environmental problems in these areas have gradually become the main concern of people. In the course of development in recent years, the rapid development of our country’s economy has provided effective help for our country’s comprehensive national strength and also brought considerable income to our residents. However, our country’s current economic development model still maintains extensive development. Mode, this economic development mode easily leads to rapid consumption of resources, severe damage to the ecological environment, and adverse effects on regional development. During the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the early industrial development and engineering construction led to a gradual decline in the quality of urban air and drinking water. The air and tap water that people breathe every day are polluted by substances produced by industrial development. In the future development process, people must pay attention to the environmental development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. This article borrows the stepwise regression analysis method to collect environmental development data in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and uses the data to construct a statistical forecast model. Through specific analysis, it is proved that the model constructed by the study has a good prediction of the pollutant content in the city. The effect can provide good help for environmental protection and pollution prevention in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Characteristics of air pollution and environmental economic efficiency in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Characteristics of air pollution and environmental economic efficiency in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Evaluation of regional environmental economic efficiency based on GIS big data and improved neural network

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Evaluation of regional environmental economic efficiency based on GIS big data and improved neural network

RASGOS DE SOSTENIBILIDAD EN LOS SISTEMAS PRODUCTIVOS FAMILIARES ESTABLECIDOS POR INMIGRANTES INDÍGENAS EN MORELOS, MÉXICO

<p><strong>Background</strong>. The social reproduction of indigenous migrants is adjusted to the receiving territory based on the work for the management of biocultural diversity. This study corresponds to the territorial unit "La Joya", in Ayala, Morelos, configured by indigenous people from the state of Guerrero. <strong>Objective</strong>. Explain the sustainability traits of family production systems (FPS) established by immigrants to Morelos in the last 20 years. <strong>Methodology</strong>. The sampling was 12.5% of the FPS, the difficulties of the languages and disposition of the informants were dissipated with ethnobiological techniques such as guided tours and semi-structured interviews, because they allowed to investigate the management of plants and animals, costs of labor work, use value and exchange value, the structure of the plants used, the number of eggs and laying cycle per year for the birds, and the destination of production, with this information an annual availability calendar of goods. The structure and ecological composition were obtained by sampling the total surface of 10 FPS. The attributes calculated were: species richness and abundances. The coverage of the plants, the house and the animal pens were located in Cartesian plans. With items from both approaches, the annual economic valuation of the management and of the production of each FPS was obtained, both integrated the environmental economic valuation. <strong>Results.</strong> Include eight management activities; the values of use of biocultural diversity were 11, the food with 47 species stands out. The composition is 96 plant species and 13 animals that provide goods for self-supply and sale throughout the year. Its economic valuation, including the family work that allows the conservation of FPS the reaches between one and 30 times the minimum salary. <strong>Implications</strong>. The social group studied comes from an área whit vegetation and a climate similar to the one that they immigrated to, which facilitates its biocultural reproduction in small lands, whose structure and composition of plants and animals is similar to that reported for communities originating from Morelos, both with sustainability indicators. <strong>Conclusion</strong>. The sustainability of the FPS is the result of social work aimed at the traditional management of biological diversity, which allows the sustained production of goods with use values for self-supply and exchange values that enter monetary resources, whose sum It shows the environmental economic efficiency, the environmental economic efficiency, the contribution to the survival and social reproduction of indigenous migrants.</p>

An integrative approach for evaluating the environmental economic efficiency

This literature presents an integrative approach using an extended Kaya identity-based LMDI decomposition analysis (Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index) with a two-stage data envelope analysis (DEA) to identify causes for changes in energy consumption and CO2 emissions and to evaluate environmental and economic efficiency. An LMDI can express the corresponding contributions between inputs and outputs by converting all variables into rates of change. These ratios can help avoid the zero and negative values in DEA. The energy consumption, CO2 emissions and economic components of the countries covered by the Belt and Road Initiative from 1992 to 2017 are used for the two-stage efficiency assessment. The outcomes lead to some policy suggestions for the BRI countries. We find that the labor market, labor productivity and energy intensity are the main drivers of energy consumption. Demographic change and carbon intensity are the main influencers of CO2 emissions. The economic situation and the field of activity have an impact on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Higher-income countries do better in both energy and economic efficiencies, but should be given more consideration in manufacturing. Finally, this integrative approach has a better goodness of fit than the isolated DEA.

Are large urban areas sustainability champions?: A Double Delinking Analysis of Environmental Performance of Global Cities

The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between both city size and welfare or prosperity on the one hand, and environmental-climatological outcomes on the other hand. This will be done by examining this intriguing relationship for a sample of 40 large cities in our world (with different size categories and located in countries with different welfare levels). Based on detailed statistical data on a multiplicity of relevant characteristics of these cities (stemming from the GPCI metropolitan data base of the Mori Memorial Foundation (2016)), we have used a super-efficient Data Envelopment Analysis (SE- DEA) to analyse the relative economic-environmental efficiency outcomes of distinct classes of global cities, so as to test the above mentioned double proposition, coined here double delinking or the double Kuznets curve phenomenon.

Economics of energy and environmental efficiency: evidence from OECD countries.

The purpose of this research is to determine the efficiency of energy usage and its role in carbon dioxide emissions (CI) and economic-environmental efficiency (EEE) for some countries Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies. For environment quality assessment, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to assess the data cover the period from 2013 to 2017. In this study, primary energy consumption (PEC) and population are two basic inputs along with gross domestic product (GDP) and carbon dioxide emissions that are desirable and undesirable outputs, respectively. The practical outcomes illustrate that Brunei, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong are the most effective and efficient states for the 5 years periods (2013-2017) in terms of energy efficiency and to reduce emission of carbon dioxide. In addition, other states in the OECD region shows greater economic proficiency than environmental proficiency. Furthermore, the results shows that energy efficiency has strong bonding with carbon emissions; however there is a weaker association between economic-environmental efficiency. Thus, the attainment of optimal level of energy efficiency could be more pivotal than economic efficiency to improve environmental efficiency in countries from the OECD region.

A DEA Approach for Assessing the Energy, Environmental and Economic Performance of Top 20 Industrial Countries

Due to growing concerns of global warming, reducing carbon emissions has become one of the major tasks for developing countries to meet the national demand for energy policies. The objective of this study is to measure the energy consumption, carbon emission and economic-environmental efficiency in terms of the environmental performance of the top 20 industrial countries by employing a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model from 2013 to 2017. This study used the trilemma of energy efficiency, CO2 emission efficiency, and environmental efficiency, and also the contribution included the quantitative analysis of 20 industrial countries The results show that the energy efficiency of Australia, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Poland are the best performing countries, whereas Mexico, Indonesia, Russia, and Brazil are identified as least efficient among all 20 countries. Furthermore, Russia’s energy intensity has a maximum score while Poland has a minimum score. Additionally, in the case of CO2 emission efficiency, Brazil, France, and Saudi Arabia are considered as efficient while nine country’s scores were less than 0.5. The results show that most countries exhibit higher performance in economic efficiency than environmental efficiency. The study provides valuable information for energy policy-makers.

Measuring Environmental and Economic Performance of Air Pollution Control for Province-Level Areas in China.

This paper proposes an improved three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to measure the environmental-economic efficiency (EEE) of air pollution control for 30 province-level areas of China during the period of 2012 to 2016. In this model, capital, labor, and total energy consumption are the three inputs, while gross domestic product (GDP) and waste gas emissions represent the desirable and undesirable outputs, respectively. This model allows the weights of economic growth and environmental protection to be adjusted as needed by policymakers; the model is adopted to evaluate the effects of government measures on environmental protection and economic growth. Ultimately, the effects from environmental factors and statistical noise are excluded from the EEEs of local governments and the managerial efficiencies are calculated. The results simultaneously reflect the local performance of air pollution control and economic development, which can be used to clarify the ranking of provinces nationwide.

Analysis of China’s Regional Economic Environmental Performance: A Non-radial Multi-objective DEA Approach

One of the hot topics is how to achieve more accurate results of economic and environmental efficiency evaluation in China. Previous data envelopment analysis (DEA) literature on environmental performance measurement often follow the concept of non-radial efficiency measure for calculating the performance on resources and economic-environmental factors respectively. This paper proposes a non-radial and multi-objective generalized DEA model for economic-environmental efficiency evaluation. The results illustrate that this model can not only analyze the relationship between DEA efficiency and Pareto optimality of the multi-objective programming problem defined on the production possibility set, but also obtain the performance improvement direction by using the projection of decision making units. Finally, a case on measuring the economic-environmental performance of Chinese provincial regions is employed to indicate that the proposed model can be helpful to promote the accuracy of economic-environmental efficiency evaluation.

Assessing the Economic-Environmental Efficiency of Energy Consumption and Spatial Patterns in China

The improvement of energy consumption efficiency represents a significant task and a critical step toward sustainable energy transformations. This study uses a data envelopment analysis (DEA) and spatial autocorrelation method to conduct comprehensive measurement and assessment research on the economic-environmental efficiency of energy consumption in 31 Chinese provinces. It then carries out a synthetic study on energy consumption efficiency in the context of temporal and spatial dimensions, analyzes the characteristics and patterns related to temporal and spatial evolution, and systematically summarizes the temporal and spatial evolution processes associated with China’s economic-environmental efficiency in energy consumption. The results show that economic efficiency and environmental efficiency, both directly related to energy consumption, are positively correlated and display a parallel and synchronizing relationship. China’s energy consumption efficiency displays an upward trend in general, although differences exist between economic efficiency and environmental efficiency about the growth rate and overall development level. In other words, economic efficiency is generally higher than environmental efficiency. A positive spatial correlation occurs between economic and environmental efficiency in energy consumption across all the Chinese provinces studied. Furthermore, some cluster characteristic can be identified. Accurately, the eastern coastal area of China with a higher efficiency represents a spatial cluster of high values, whereas the midwestern inland area of China with a lower efficiency represents a spatial cluster of low values. Therefore, a descending pattern is displayed from the east to the west. As time goes by, the extent of clustering could become more prominent, accompanied by an increasing spatial cluster of high values and a decreasing spatial cluster of low values. Accordingly, China needs to improve its energy consumption efficiency further and promote sustainable energy transformations.

Economic-environmental efficiency of European agriculture - a generalized maximum entropy approach

The study aims to estimate the agricultural economic-environmental efficiency (eco-efficiency) for European countries. Eco-efficiency is obtained by the data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) using a generalized maximum entropy (GME) approach. Agriculture gross value added (GVA) is considered as the desirable output and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as the undesirable output. Capital, labour, land, energy and nutrients are regarded as inputs. The GVA/GHG ratio is the measure of eco-efficiency. The estimation was made for the years 2005 and 2010, which correspond to the 1st year of commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and the most recent year with information concerning all the variables in the study, and is a period that can allow us to see some changes after the agreement. The results show that in 2005, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, the Netherlands and Portugal revealed the higher levels of eco-efficiency; and countries such as Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Latvia and Slovakia are the group with the lowest levels of eco-efficiency. In 2010, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands and Portugal are the group of countries with the higher levels of eco-efficiency, while Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Romania and the United Kingdom are the group with the lowest levels of eco-efficiency.

Measuring energy use and CO2 emission performances for APEC economies

Abstract This study proposes environmental DEA-based models to measure energy use efficiency, CO2 emissions efficiency, and an environmental-economic efficiency (EEE) for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies for the period of 2006–2010. In our models, population and total primary energy consumption are the two inputs, while GDP and CO2 emissions represent the desirable and undesirable outputs, respectively. Empirical results from 20 APEC economies showed that Australia, Brunei, Hong Kong, and Singapore were identified as efficient countries for five consecutive years from 2006 to 2010 in terms of energy use efficiency; as for CO2 emission efficiency, Brunei, Hong Kong, and Singapore were identified as efficient countries for the five consecutive years from 2006 to 2010. As far as EEE is concerned, most countries in APEC exhibited higher economic efficiency than environmental efficiency. Moreover, both energy use efficiency and CO2 emission efficiency were found to be significantly related to the EEE value (p

Spatial-temporal pattern of sustainable intensification of agricultural land-use in Shandong Province, China.

Under the theoretical framework of sustainable intensification of agricultural land-use (SIALU), We used material flow analysis (MFA) method to establish evaluation index system for SIALU by utilizing data in 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015 to quantify the level of SIALU of 17 cities in Shandong Province, and analyzed the variation in input-output of resources factors of agricultural land, spatial distribution of resource productivity and environmental economic efficiency, in order to reveal spatial-temporal differentiation of SIALU. Results showed that the direct material input to agricultural lands decreased, whereas hidden flow, stock and pollutant emissions increased gradually from 2000 to 2015. The material productivity of all cities in the province showed that the coastal areas in the peninsula were relatively lower than the southern region, and the level of material productivity in the northwest region was relatively higher. Environmental economic efficiency was gradually enhanced, and the western region was relatively higher than coastal area of the peninsula. During the period examined here, the spatial pattern of SIALU of various cities showed clustered distribution change, with the western region tending to gradually increase and the eastern region tending to gradually reduce. The dynamics of SIALU among different regions were divided into six grades: Northwestern Shandong > Northern Shandong > Southwestern Shandong > Southern Shandong > Central Shandong > Coastal areas of Shandong Peninsula.

Оценка экономической и экологической эффективности замещения технологии прямого сжигания твердого топлива пароплазменной газификацией

Оценка экономической и экологической эффективности замещения технологии прямого сжигания твердого топлива пароплазменной газификацией