IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/engenv/v36y2025i6p2815-2835.html

Do technological innovations and clean energies ensure CO2 reduction in China? A novel nonparametric causality-in-quantiles

Author

Listed:
  • Ugur Korkut Pata
  • Rundong Luo
  • Mustafa Tevfik Kartal
  • Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo
  • Sami Ullah

Abstract

Sustainable manufacturing and green growth are prominent concerns for both advanced and emerging countries to reach the sustainable development goals. Most emerging economies rely heavily on fossil fuels to meet their energy needs, which increases greenhouse gas emissions and degrades environmental quality. This study accessed the role of renewable energy, trade globalization, and technological innovations in predicting environmental quality in China using quarterly data from 2001 to 2019. The study employed a novel nonparametric causality-in-quantiles approach, because causality may not exist in the mean, but a higher-order relationship may be observed in the variance. The outcomes revealed that renewable energy, globalization and technology, all have significant and asymmetric power to predict carbon emissions and ecological footprint in China. The main finding of the study is that technology seems to be the most significant predictor of carbon emissions, while the ecological footprint is highly driven by renewable energy. Based on these results, the Chinese government should reduce ecological degradation by increasing investments in technological progress and renewable energy to achieve sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Ugur Korkut Pata & Rundong Luo & Mustafa Tevfik Kartal & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Sami Ullah, 2025. "Do technological innovations and clean energies ensure CO2 reduction in China? A novel nonparametric causality-in-quantiles," Energy & Environment, , vol. 36(6), pages 2815-2835, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:engenv:v:36:y:2025:i:6:p:2815-2835
    DOI: 10.1177/0958305X231210993
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0958305X231210993
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0958305X231210993?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pata, Ugur Korkut & Caglar, Abdullah Emre, 2021. "Investigating the EKC hypothesis with renewable energy consumption, human capital, globalization and trade openness for China: Evidence from augmented ARDL approach with a structural break," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    2. Majeed, Abdul & Wang, Lijun & Zhang, Xiaohui & Muniba, & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2021. "Modeling the dynamic links among natural resources, economic globalization, disaggregated energy consumption, and environmental quality: Fresh evidence from GCC economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    3. Abdul, Daud & Wenqi, Jiang & Tanveer, Arsalan, 2022. "Environmental stewardship: Analyzing the dynamic impact of renewable energy, foreign remittances, and globalization index on China's CO2 emissions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P1), pages 418-425.
    4. Hayat Khan & Liu Weili & Itbar Khan, 2022. "Environmental innovation, trade openness and quality institutions: an integrated investigation about environmental sustainability," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 3832-3862, March.
    5. Kwiatkowski, Denis & Phillips, Peter C. B. & Schmidt, Peter & Shin, Yongcheol, 1992. "Testing the null hypothesis of stationarity against the alternative of a unit root : How sure are we that economic time series have a unit root?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1-3), pages 159-178.
    6. Balcilar, Mehmet & Bonato, Matteo & Demirer, Riza & Gupta, Rangan, 2017. "The effect of investor sentiment on gold market return dynamics: Evidence from a nonparametric causality-in-quantiles approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 77-84.
    7. Sharif, Arshian & Mishra, Shekhar & Sinha, Avik & Jiao, Zhilun & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Afshan, Sahar, 2020. "The renewable energy consumption-environmental degradation nexus in Top-10 polluted countries: Fresh insights from quantile-on-quantile regression approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 670-690.
    8. Bhattacharya, Mita & Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy, 2017. "The dynamic impact of renewable energy and institutions on economic output and CO2 emissions across regions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 157-167.
    9. Shahnazi, Rouhollah & Dehghan Shabani, Zahra, 2021. "The effects of renewable energy, spatial spillover of CO2 emissions and economic freedom on CO2 emissions in the EU," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 293-307.
    10. Wu Xiaoman & Abdul Majeed & Dinara G. Vasbieva & Claire Emilienne Wati Yameogo & Nazim Hussain, 2021. "Natural resources abundance, economic globalization, and carbon emissions: Advancing sustainable development agenda," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 1037-1048, September.
    11. Adekoya, Oluwasegun B. & Ajayi, Gbenga E. & Suhrab, Muhammad & Oliyide, Johnson A., 2022. "How critical are resource rents, agriculture, growth, and renewable energy to environmental degradation in the resource-rich African countries? The role of institutional quality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    12. Chen, Wenhui & Lei, Yalin, 2018. "The impacts of renewable energy and technological innovation on environment-energy-growth nexus: New evidence from a panel quantile regression," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-14.
    13. Liu, Ying & Lin, Boqiang & Xu, Bin, 2021. "Modeling the impact of energy abundance on economic growth and CO2 emissions by quantile regression: Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    14. Kartal, Mustafa Tevfik, 2022. "The role of consumption of energy, fossil sources, nuclear energy, and renewable energy on environmental degradation in top-five carbon producing countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 871-880.
    15. Acheampong, Alex O. & Dzator, Janet & Savage, David A., 2021. "Renewable energy, CO2 emissions and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa: Does institutional quality matter?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 1070-1093.
    16. Pata, Ugur Korkut, 2021. "Linking renewable energy, globalization, agriculture, CO2 emissions and ecological footprint in BRIC countries: A sustainability perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 197-208.
    17. Manzoor Ahmad & Zeeshan Khan & Zia Ur Rahman & Shoukat Iqbal Khattak & Zia Ullah Khan, 2021. "Can innovation shocks determine CO2 emissions (CO2e) in the OECD economies? A new perspective," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 89-109, January.
    18. Tajudeen, Ibrahim A. & Wossink, Ada & Banerjee, Prasenjit, 2018. "How significant is energy efficiency to mitigate CO2 emissions? Evidence from OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 200-221.
    19. Diks, Cees & Panchenko, Valentyn, 2006. "A new statistic and practical guidelines for nonparametric Granger causality testing," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(9-10), pages 1647-1669.
    20. Rundong Luo & Sami Ullah & Kishwar Ali, 2021. "Pathway towards Sustainability in Selected Asian Countries: Influence of Green Investment, Technology Innovations, and Economic Growth on CO2 Emission," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    21. Razmjoo, A. & Gakenia Kaigutha, L. & Vaziri Rad, M.A. & Marzband, M. & Davarpanah, A. & Denai, M., 2021. "A Technical analysis investigating energy sustainability utilizing reliable renewable energy sources to reduce CO2 emissions in a high potential area," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 46-57.
    22. Chien, Fengsheng & Ajaz, Tahseen & Andlib, Zubaria & Chau, Ka Yin & Ahmad, Paiman & Sharif, Arshian, 2021. "The role of technology innovation, renewable energy and globalization in reducing environmental degradation in Pakistan: A step towards sustainable environment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 308-317.
    23. Wajahat Ali & Inam Ur Rahman & Muhammad Zahid & Muhammad Anees Khan & Tafazal Kumail, 2020. "Do technology and structural changes favour environment in Malaysia: an ARDL-based evidence for environmental Kuznets curve," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 7927-7950, December.
    24. Jeong, Kiho & Härdle, Wolfgang K. & Song, Song, 2012. "A Consistent Nonparametric Test For Causality In Quantile," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(4), pages 861-887, August.
    25. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    26. Nishiyama, Yoshihiko & Hitomi, Kohtaro & Kawasaki, Yoshinori & Jeong, Kiho, 2011. "A consistent nonparametric test for nonlinear causality—Specification in time series regression," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 165(1), pages 112-127.
    27. Yu Hao & Yunxia Guo & Haitao Wu, 2022. "The role of information and communication technology on green total factor energy efficiency: Does environmental regulation work?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 403-424, January.
    28. Sun, Yunpeng & Anwar, Ahsan & Razzaq, Asif & Liang, Xueping & Siddique, Muhammad, 2022. "Asymmetric role of renewable energy, green innovation, and globalization in deriving environmental sustainability: Evidence from top-10 polluted countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 280-290.
    29. Jun, Wen & Mughal, Nafeesa & Zhao, Jin & Shabbir, Malik Shahzad & Niedbała, Gniewko & Jain, Vipin & Anwar, Ahsan, 2021. "Does globalization matter for environmental degradation? Nexus among energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emission," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    30. Balcilar, Mehmet & Gupta, Rangan & Kim, Won Joong & Kyei, Clement, 2019. "The role of economic policy uncertainties in predicting stock returns and their volatility for Hong Kong, Malaysia and South Korea," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 150-163.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vu Ngoc Xuan, 2025. "Economic Growth, FDI, and Energy Transition in India’s Revolution 6.0," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(4), pages 21582440251, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang, Bin & Wu, Qiong & Sharif, Arshian & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2023. "Non-linear impact of natural resources, green financing, and energy transition on sustainable environment: A way out for common prosperity in NORDIC countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Kartal, Mustafa Tevfik & Ghosh, Sudeshna & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday, 2023. "Renewable energy effect on economy and environment: The case of G7 countries through novel bootstrap rolling window approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    3. Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Abraham Ayobamiji Awosusi & Kazeem Bello Ajide & Adeolu O. Adewuyi & Fatimah Ololade Bolarinwa, 2024. "Investigating the asymmetric effects of renewable energy-carbon neutrality nexus: Can technological innovation, trade openness, and transport services deliver the target for Germany?," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(1), pages 185-206, February.
    4. Arshad Ali & Guo Xiangyu, 2025. "Renewable energy generation, agricultural value added and globalization in relation to environmental degradation in the five most populous countries in Asia," Energy & Environment, , vol. 36(3), pages 1484-1508, May.
    5. Niu Shuhai & Ali Zeb & Mohsin Rasheed & Obaid Ullah & Naeem Ud Din, 2026. "Dynamics of China's development: Long–short perspectives on institutions, globalization, technology, and environmental quality using auto regressive distributive lag," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(1), pages 567-594, February.
    6. Li, Haiqi & Zhong, Wanling & Park, Sung Y., 2016. "Generalized cross-spectral test for nonlinear Granger causality with applications to money–output and price–volume relations," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 661-671.
    7. Maghyereh, Aktham & Abdoh, Hussein, 2020. "The tail dependence structure between investor sentiment and commodity markets," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    8. Hassan, Taimoor & Song, Huaming & Khan, Yasir & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2022. "Energy efficiency a source of low carbon energy sources? Evidence from 16 high-income OECD economies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    9. Chang, Tsangyao & Hsu, Chen-Min & Chen, Sheng-Tung & Wang, Mei-Chih & Wu, Cheng-Feng, 2023. "Revisiting economic growth and CO2 emissions nexus in Taiwan using a mixed-frequency VAR model," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 319-342.
    10. Sun, Yunpeng & Guan, Weimin & Mehmood, Usman & Yang, Xiaodong, 2022. "Asymmetric impacts of natural resources on ecological footprints: Exploring the role of economic growth, FDI and renewable energy in G-11 countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Yang, Kun & Wei, Yu & Li, Shouwei & Liu, Liang & Wang, Lei, 2021. "Global financial uncertainties and China’s crude oil futures market: Evidence from interday and intraday price dynamics," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    12. Wang, Chen & Raza, Syed Ali & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday & Yi, Sun & Shah, Muhammad Ibrahim, 2023. "The roles of hydro, nuclear and biomass energy towards carbon neutrality target in China: A policy-based analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    13. Sun, Yunpeng & Li, Haoning & Andlib, Zubaria & Genie, Mesfin G., 2022. "How do renewable energy and urbanization cause carbon emissions? Evidence from advanced panel estimation techniques," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 996-1005.
    14. Miao, Miao & Khaskheli, Asadullah & Raza, Syed Ali & Yousufi, Sara Qamar, 2022. "Using internet search keyword data for predictability of precious metals prices: Evidence from non-parametric causality-in-quantiles approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Barut, Abdulkadir & Kaya, Emine & Bekun, Festus Victor & Cengiz, Sevgi, 2023. "Environmental sustainability amidst financial inclusion in five fragile economies: Evidence from lens of environmental Kuznets curve," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    16. Ahsan Anwar & Summaira Malik & Paiman Ahmad, 2025. "Cogitating the role of Technological Innovation and Institutional Quality in Formulating the Sustainable Development Goal Policies for E7 Countries: Evidence from Quantile Regression," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 26(6), pages 1532-1555, December.
    17. Dong Yu & Zilong Wang & Muhammad Nadeem, 2025. "Assessing the predictive ability of information globalization under global value chains‐environmental sustainability nexus in the BRICS economies: A nonparametric causality approach," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(3), pages 2891-2916, August.
    18. Ostadzad, Ali Hossein, 2022. "Innovation and carbon emissions: Fixed-effects panel threshold model estimation for renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 602-617.
    19. Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain & Raza, Naveed & Balcilar, Mehmet & Ali, Sajid & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2017. "Can economic policy uncertainty and investors sentiment predict commodities returns and volatility?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 208-218.
    20. Bos, Martijn & Demirer, Riza & Gupta, Rangan & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar, 2018. "Oil returns and volatility: The role of mergers and acquisitions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 62-69.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:engenv:v:36:y:2025:i:6:p:2815-2835. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.