Search Results (4,398)

The digital economy is an important driver for promoting the green transformation of the manufacturing industry, as well as a key engine for achieving China’s goals of reaching peak carbon, carbon neutrality, and high-quality economic development. This study uses provincial panel data from 2011 to 2021 as research samples and empirically analyzes the impact of the digital economy on carbon emissions by constructing a two-way fixed-effects model. The research findings show that the development of the digital economy can restrain the increasing scale of carbon emissions and improve carbon efficiency. A mediation effect analysis reveals that the digital economy can achieve emission reduction and efficiency improvement through the upgrading of consumption structures, while the upgrading of energy structures has the opposite effect, increasing carbon emissions. Further, a heterogeneity analysis indicates that the carbon reduction effect of the digital economy shows a trend of being higher in the west and lower in the east, higher in the north and lower in the south, higher in provinces with high openness compared to those with low openness, and higher in provinces with a good business environment compared to those with an average business environment. Based on these conclusions, recommendations are proposed at three levels: promoting the integration of the digital economy with manufacturing; fully leveraging the effects of the digital economy in relation to upgrading energy structures and consumption structures; and exploring collaborative mechanisms for regional digital development, in order to provide a theoretical basis for the development of the digital economy and realization of the “dual carbon” goals. Full article

Cities were at the center of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the concentration of affected populations and economic activities that needed to be revived to support global recovery. While cities offer strong economic and social benefits due to density, proximity, and global connectivity, the pandemic had a tremendous impact on their vital functions. It resulted in lost lives and livelihoods and deepened economic and social divides. Furthermore, the pandemic exacerbated many existing environmental challenges in cities. This presented an opportunity to tackle these interlinked challenges in an integrated manner. Evidence suggests that many city leaders integrated environmental sustainability as an important element to complement their emergency responses. Drawing from experiences in cities around the world, particularly those participating in the Sustainable Cities Program supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), this paper describes how integrated solutions were applied to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with a Healthy Planet Healthy People concept, a framework is proposed for sustainable urban transformation and to build cities that are resilient to shocks and stresses. With global environmental benefits at the core, the framework highlights the importance of integration, inclusion, and innovation as key approaches in steering the future green growth and prosperity of cities. Full article

Organic waste utilization stands as a pivotal approach to ecological and economic sustainability. This study aimed to assess the stability, maturity, and evolution of co-composts comprising various blends of green waste (GW) and sheep manure (SM). Employing a diverse array of physico-chemical and biological parameters, we investigated the co-composting process over 120 days. Three types of garden waste (mixture of green waste (MGW), fallen leaves (FL), and grass cutting (GC)) were utilized. The results revealed significant compost transformation, evident by odor and insect absence and a shift to dark brown coloration, indicating maturation. The compost C2, derived from FL, exhibited superior soil amendment potential. Significantly, it exhibited a pH level of 6.80, an EC of 2.45 mS/cm, and an OM content of 55%, along with a C/N ratio of 16.15. Analysis of the macronutrients revealed values of 1.98% for TN, 3.22% for TP, and 0.61% for K. Crucially, the compost showed no phytotoxic effects and boasted a high GI of 94.20% and a low respiration rate of 4.02 mg/50 g, indicating its stability and appropriateness for agricultural application. Our findings underscore compost’s potential as an eco-friendly soil amendment, offering valuable insights for sustainable agricultural management and supporting the circular economy. Full article

With the increasingly severe climate change situation and the trend of green energy transformation, the development and utilization of hydrogen energy has attracted extensive attention from government, industry, and academia in the past few decades. Renewable energy electrolysis stands out as one of the most promising hydrogen production routes, enabling the storage of intermittent renewable energy power generation and supplying green fuel to various sectors. This article reviews the evolution and development of green hydrogen policies in the United States, the European Union, Japan, and China, and then summarizes the key technological progress of renewable energy electrolysis while introducing the progress of hydrogen production from wind and photovoltaic power generation. Furthermore, the environmental, social, and economic benefits of different hydrogen production routes are analyzed and compared. Finally, it provides a prospective analysis of the potential impact of renewable energy electrolysis on the global energy landscape and outlines key areas for future research and development. Full article

Green growth exhibits an immense potential to transform economies and safeguard the planet as it creates a symbiotic relationship between economic progress and environmental protection. This study examines the impact of green innovation, renewable energy consumption, and institutional quality on green growth in African countries, controlling for GDP per capita, trade openness, foreign direct investment (FDI), population, and natural resource rent. The short- and long-run relationships are investigated using pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effects (DFE) models with panel data for 49 African countries from 2000 to 2021. The findings reveal that green innovation, renewable energy consumption, institutional quality, GDP per capita, trade openness, and population growth have positive long-run effects on green growth. In contrast, FDI and natural resource depletion have adverse effects. In the short run, only institutional quality and GDP per capita positively affect green growth, while natural resource rent has a negative impact. Considering these findings, this study recommends that policymakers in Africa promote green innovation and adopt energy-efficient technologies, increase the use of renewable energy resources, and improve institutional quality to achieve green growth. Full article

The circulation industry, centered on the flow of commodities and supported by logistics, information, and capital flows, serves as a vital link between production and consumption, playing a pivotal role in enhancing production efficiency and facilitating economic transformation and upgrading. Through the spatial aggregation and interconnection of industries such as wholesale and retail, logistics, and catering, the circulation industry forms an economic system characterized by spatial cohesion and resource sharing, thereby significantly impacting carbon emissions through improved production efficiency. This study integrates both the “production side” and “consumption side” into an analytical framework examining the relationship between the circulation industry and carbon emissions. It looks into the mechanisms underlying the industry’s influence on carbon reduction and empirically tests these mechanisms using systematic estimation methods based on data from 30 Chinese provinces spanning 2011 to 2020. The results reveal a pronounced carbon reduction effect within the circulation industry, which intensifies across quantiles, exhibiting regional disparities with stronger effects in central regions compared to eastern regions and insignificant effects in western regions. On the production side, the circulation industry significantly reduces carbon emissions through scale, technology, and structural effects. Conversely, on the consumption side, while the upgrading of rural residents’ consumption structure exhibits a carbon emission suppression effect, the same upgrade among urban residents leads to an enhancement of carbon emissions. The primary contribution of this study lies in constructing an analytical framework that explores the nexus between the circulation industry and carbon emissions. It empirically validates the mechanisms through which the industry impacts carbon emissions at both the production and consumption ends, uncovering regional heterogeneities in carbon reduction efforts. This work provides novel theoretical insights and empirical evidence that can inform global carbon reduction strategies. Full article

In the development of the aviation industry, integrating Life Cycle Management (LCM) with Advanced Health Monitoring Systems (AHMSs) and modular design emerges as a pivotal strategy for enhancing sustainability and cost efficiency. This paper examines how AHMSs, using the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technologies, can transform maintenance operations by providing real-time diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and secure data logging. The study introduces a comprehensive framework that integrates these technologies into LCM, focusing on maximizing the utilization and lifespan of aircraft components. Quantitative models are developed to compare traditional and modern aviation systems, highlighting the substantial life cycle cost savings and operational efficiencies achieved through these integrations. The results demonstrate up to a 30% reduction in maintenance costs and up to a 20% extension in component lifespan, validating the economic and operational benefits of the proposed integrations. The research underscores the potential of these combined strategies to advance the aviation sector’s sustainability objectives, and serves as valuable tools for industry stakeholders, offering actionable insights into the implementation of LCM strategies enhanced by AHMSs and modular design, offering a detailed analysis of the practical implementation challenges. Full article

Timely and accurate rainfall prediction is crucial to social life and economic activities. Because of the influence of numerous factors on rainfall, making precise predictions is challenging. In this study, the northern Xinjiang region of China is selected as the research area. Based on the pattern of rainfall in the local area and the needs of real life, rainfall is divided into four levels, namely ‘no rain’, ‘light rain’, ‘moderate rain’, and ‘heavy rain and above’, for rainfall levels nowcasting. To solve the problem that the existing model can only extract a single time dependence and cause the loss of some valuable information in rainfall data, a prediction model named DFFNet, which is based on dual-branch feature fusion, is proposed in this paper. The two branches of the model are composed of Transformer and CNN, which are used to extract time dependence and feature interaction in meteorological data, respectively. The features extracted from the two branches are fused for prediction. To verify the performance of DFFNet, the India public rainfall dataset and some sub-datasets in the UEA dataset are chosen for comparison. Compared with the baseline models, DFFNet achieves the best prediction performance on all the selected datasets; compared with the single-branch model, the training time consumption of DFFNet on the two rainfall datasets is reduced by 21% and 9.6%, respectively, and it has a faster convergence speed. The experimental results show that it has certain theoretical value and application value for the study of rainfall nowcasting. Full article

Structurally affected regions face a necessary economic transformation, for which the efficiency of public financial support is crucial. Regional innovation systems represent a modern approach to regional and urban development focusing on innovation and research activities. The aim of this study is to assess whether there is a difference in the effect of public R&D funding on the development of a region’s innovation environment between structurally affected and other regions. The beta convergence and the method of calculating the average efficiency of public funds were used to meet the objective of this research. The analysis was conducted on data from 2012 to 2022 in 14 regions of the Czech Republic. The results show that public support for R&D has a positive effect on development of the innovation environment in structurally affected regions in the Czech Republic and that there is a difference in the effect of this support regarding structurally affected regions versus developed regions. These affected regions on average respond better to public financial support for R&D than mature regions. In contrast, the efficiency of public financial support is lower in regions with a strongly developed innovation system. Full article

The Aral Sea is an indispensable component of the socio-economic progress of Central Asia but has undergone substantial ecological transformations over the last few decades, primarily due to global warming and human activities. Among these changes, the basin area has decreased, and water levels have dropped. This paper focuses on a comprehensive analysis of the spatial variation of key climate parameters, such as temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration over the Aral Sea. Moreover, we examined the transformation of seasonal water areas in the Aral Sea during the growing and non-growing seasons between 2002 and 2017 and the influence of climate and human factors on these changes using Landsat satellite data. Our results indicate that the western section of the Aral Sea has experienced a reduction in water area by 2.41 km² and 1.83 km² during the warm (R² = 0.789) and cold (R² = 0.744) seasons, respectively, over the investigated period. The decrease in lake water volume during the warm season can be attributed to local climate variations, as a strong negative correlation exists between seasonal water storage change and temperature (potential evapotranspiration). The correlation analysis shows that the water change in the northern part of the Aral Sea during the growing season has a significant positive correlation with temperature (R = 0.52) and an insignificant negative correlation with precipitation (R = −0.22). On the contrary, in the west and east parts of the Aral Sea, there is a significant negative correlation with temperature (R = −0.71 and −0.62) and a high positive correlation with precipitation (R = 0.71 and 0.55) during the growing season. Full article

With the adoption of the concept of sustainable development, mega sports events (MSEs) are gradually aiming to be greener and to lower their carbon footprints. As such, does the hosting of MSEs provide an opportunity for urban green transformation? Taking MSEs in China as a quasi-natural experiment and using prefecture-level panel data from 2000 to 2020, we empirically explored the effects and mechanisms of MSE hosting on the green economic development in urban areas by applying a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) approach. The findings revealed that the hosting of MSEs can significantly increase the green total factor productivity (GTFP) of the host city, indicating that MSEs promote the green transformation of urban areas. The results of the mechanism analysis showed that hosting MSEs promotes urban green transformation through three channels: encouraging residents to choose public transport, promoting the development of the digital economy, and upgrading of the industrial structure. In addition, the effect of hosting MSEs on green transformation is stronger in cities where the public is more concerned about the environment. We argue that host city governments should implement the concept of green sports when organizing MSEs, increase public concern about the environment, focus on the development of urban public services, and vigorously develop tertiary industries to drive urban green transformations. Full article

The swift advancement of the industrial economy has depleted resources and degraded the environment, hindering global economic growth. Digitalization provides a novel approach to decrease carbon emissions and enhance the environment. This study utilized panel data from 2012 to 2021 of listed A-share industrial enterprises as the research sample. It employed suitable measures to assess digitalization and corporate carbon performance. Furthermore, a double fixed-effects regression model was constructed to examine the correlation between digitalization and corporate carbon performance. The findings indicate that digital transformation and corporate carbon performance varied widely across different firms, but there was notable overall progress. Adopting digital transformation in the industrial sector had a substantial and favorable effect on enterprises’ carbon performance. This effect remained substantial despite multiple robustness tests. An examination of the mechanisms involved indicated that digital transformation enhances the carbon performance of industrial sector enterprises by improving the clarity and accessibility of company information. Corporations may intentionally seek difficulties and take strategic risks due to performance–expectation discrepancies. Due to the digital transformation, this behavior may improve the carbon performance of listed industrial businesses. The carbon performance of industrial businesses after digital transformation depends on elements like property rights, market rivalry, industry pollution, and capital investment. Full article

Cities require flexible and participatory planning methodologies to address complex and evolving urban challenges. In Italy, the legislative framework is defined at the regional level according to national laws and jurisprudence. The Lombardy region introduced the Planning Document (PD) in the Territorial Government Plan (PGT) as a strategic tool capable of adapting to changes. Based on a strategic vision, this document guides concrete actions for urban transformation, actively involving stakeholders, including citizens. The PD’s role is to translate the political program into an urban planning design, encompassing both technical and political dimensions. The political aspect is usually emphasized in the strategic component of the document. Following the formation process of the whole city plan, the authors define the key strategies in the PD for a healthier urban future for the city of Voghera. It emerges as a balanced urban development that combines economic growth, environmental preservation, and community well-being. In the paper, the authors synthesize Voghera’s PD as an example of strategic planning that interacts with practical planning actions and guides both public and private decisions about the city’s development toward a healthier city. Full article

The conservation of agricultural heritage systems (AHSs) has played a pivotal role in fostering the sustainable development of agriculture and safeguarding farmers’ livelihoods and food security worldwide. This significance is particularly evident in the case of tea AHSs, due to the economic and nutritional value of tea products. Taking the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Culture System (ATTCS) and Fuding White Tea Culture System (FWTCS) in Fujian Province as examples, this study uses statistical analyses and a multinomial logistic regression model to assess and compare farmer livelihood and food security at the tea AHS sites. The main findings are as follows. First, as the tea industries are at different stages of development, compared with agricultural and non-agricultural part-time households, the welfare level of pure agricultural households is lowest in the ATTCS, while welfare is the highest in the FWTCS. Second, factors such as the area of tea gardens and the number of laborers significantly affect farmers’ livelihood strategies transformation from pure agricultural households to agricultural part-time households in the ATTCS and FWTCS. Third, the high commodity rate of tea products, combined with compound cultivation in tea gardens, provides local people with essential sources of income, food, and nutrients, so as to improve food security in the ATTCS and FWTCS. These findings are essential for designing policies to ensure farmers’ livelihoods and food security through AHSs and other sustainable agriculture. Full article

With the advancement of urbanization and the continuous deepening of reforms in urban–rural systems, China’s urbanization process has entered a new era of integrated urban–rural integration. Currently, as a global “new green revolution” gains momentum, numerous countries are deeply integrating the concept of sustainable development into new urban planning. Against this backdrop, urban planners worldwide are committed to building green, livable, and smart cities that can meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, thus achieving the vision of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. Characteristic towns, leveraging their resource advantages, play a significant role in achieving sustainable regional economic development. They serve as valuable references for China’s urban transformation and upgrading, as well as for promoting rural urbanization, and are crucial avenues for advancing China’s urban–rural integration development strategy. The evaluation of the development level of characteristic towns is a necessary step in their progress and a strong guarantee for promoting their construction and development. Therefore, effectively evaluating the social benefits of characteristic towns is paramount. This study constructs an evaluation model based on the grey rough set theory and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution of TOPSIS. Firstly, an evaluation index system for the development level of characteristic towns is established. Then, the grey relational analysis method and rough set theory are used to reduce the index attributes, while the conditional information entropy theory is introduced to determine the weights of the reduced indicators. Finally, the TOPSIS model is applied to evaluate the development level of characteristic towns. Through empirical research, eight characteristic towns in Zhejiang Province, China, were assessed and ranked, verifying the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed model. Full article