IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v32y2024i5p5797-5811.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding the nonlinear effect of digital technology development on CO2 reduction

Author

Listed:
  • Aleksy Kwilinski

Abstract

Digital technology, including advancements in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and data analytics, has the potential to revolutionize tackling the problem of carbon dioxide emissions and achieving sustainable development. The paper aims at checking the nature of the impact of digital technology development on carbon dioxide reduction for the EU countries in 2013–2020. The study applies the following methods: entropy methods, panel‐corrected standard error, and feasible generalized least squares. The digital technology development index enabled the classification of all the EU countries into two distinct groups: High Digital Technology Development and Moderate/Lower Digital Technology Development. The findings confirm that digital technology development has a significant impact on decreasing carbon dioxide emissions. In the first stage, the growth of digital technology causes a faster decrease in carbon dioxide emissions. However, beyond a certain threshold, the further improvement of digital technology results in diminishing marginal benefits of CO2 emissions reduction. Thus, the EU government should catalyze the extension of digital technologies among all sectors and levels. In addition, it requires enhancing digital literacy of the society and local authorities.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksy Kwilinski, 2024. "Understanding the nonlinear effect of digital technology development on CO2 reduction," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 5797-5811, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:32:y:2024:i:5:p:5797-5811
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.2964
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2964
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.2964?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. Vyacheslav Dementyev & Nataliya Dalevska & Aleksy Kwilinski, 2021. "Innovation and Information Aspects of the Structural Organization of the World Political and Economic Space," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 4(1), pages 54-76, January.
    2. But Dedaj & Gokcen Ogruk-Maz & Mjellma Carabregu-Vokshi & Luljeta Aliu-Mulaj & Khalid M. Kisswani, 2022. "Improving ICTs (Mobile Phone and Internet) for Environmental Sustainability in the Western Balkan Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-13, June.
    3. Gene M. Grossman & Alan B. Krueger, 1995. "Economic Growth and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 353-377.
    4. Abbiha Waqar & Nida Nabeel, 2021. "The Impact of Social Networking on Customer Loyalty in an Emerging E-Market Context," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 4(2), pages 76-87, April.
    5. M. Amari & K. Mouakhar & A. Jarboui, 2022. "ICT Development, Governance Quality and the Environmental Performance: Avoidable Thresholds from the Lower and Lower-Middle-Income Countries," Post-Print hal-04445030, HAL.
    6. Hanhua Shao & Jixin Cheng & Yuansheng Wang & Xiaoming Li, 2022. "Can Digital Finance Promote Comprehensive Carbon Emission Performance? Evidence from Chinese Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-18, August.
    7. Zhang, Wei & Liu, Xuemeng & Wang, Die & Zhou, Jianping, 2022. "Digital economy and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    8. Azel Zhanibek & Rafis Abazov & Andrey Khazbulatov, 2022. "Digital Transformation of a Country’s Image: The Case of the Astana International Finance Centre in Kazakhstan," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 5(2), pages 71-94, September.
    9. Xiaoyan Li & Jia Liu & Peijie Ni, 2021. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on CO 2 Emissions: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    10. Kateryna Molchanova, 2021. "Organization of Aviation Enterprises’ Interaction Based on the Digital Platform," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 4(1), pages 77-97, January.
    11. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Andrew K. Rose, 2005. "Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 85-91, February.
    12. Muh Kadarisman & Arie Wahyu Wijayanto & Anjar Dimara Sakti, 2022. "Government Agencies’ Readiness Evaluation towards Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 in Indonesia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-18, July.
    13. Oleksandr Melnychenko, 2021. "Energy Losses Due to Imperfect Payment Infrastructure and Payment Instruments," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    14. Wojciech Drożdż & Grzegorz Kinelski & Marzena Czarnecka & Magdalena Wójcik-Jurkiewicz & Anna Maroušková & Grzegorz Zych, 2021. "Determinants of Decarbonization—How to Realize Sustainable and Low Carbon Cities?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, May.
    15. Radosław Miśkiewicz & Agnieszka Rzepka & Ryszard Borowiecki & Zbigniew Olesińki, 2021. "Energy Efficiency in the Industry 4.0 Era: Attributes of Teal Organisations," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-14, October.
    16. Dabbous, Amal & Barakat, Karine Aoun & Kraus, Sascha, 2023. "The impact of digitalization on entrepreneurial activity and sustainable competitiveness: A panel data analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    17. Radosław Miśkiewicz & Krzysztof Matan & Jakub Karnowski, 2022. "The Role of Crypto Trading in the Economy, Renewable Energy Consumption and Ecological Degradation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    18. Saia, Artjom, 2023. "Digitalization and CO2 emissions: Dynamics under R&D and technology innovation regimes," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Aleksandra Kuzior & Mariya Sira & Paulina Brozek, 2022. "Using Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence in Energy Management as a Tool to Achieve Energy Efficiency," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 5(3), pages 69-90, November.
    20. Henryk Dzwigol, 2022. "Research Methodology in Management Science: Triangulation," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 5(1), pages 78-93, April.
    21. Saumyaranjan Sahoo & Anil Kumar & Arvind Upadhyay, 2023. "How do green knowledge management and green technology innovation impact corporate environmental performance? Understanding the role of green knowledge acquisition," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 551-569, January.
    22. Luo, Kang & Liu, Yaobin & Chen, Pei-Fen & Zeng, Mingli, 2022. "Assessing the impact of digital economy on green development efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    23. Yevheniia Ziabina & Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko & Yana Us, 2023. "Convergence of Energy Policies between the EU and Ukraine under the Green Deal Policy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-19, January.
    24. Joanna Wyrwa & Magdalena ZaraÅ› & Katarzyna Wolak, 2021. "Smart Solutions in Cities during the Covid-19 Pandemic," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 4(2), pages 88-103, April.
    25. Nishi Sharma & Shailika Rawat & Arshdeep Kaur, 2022. "Investment in Virtual Digital Assets Vis-A-Vis Equity Stock and Commodity: A Post-Covid Volatility Analysis," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 5(2), pages 95-113, September.
    26. Yang Chen & Aleksy Kwilinski & Olena Chygryn & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2021. "The Green Competitiveness of Enterprises: Justifying the Quality Criteria of Digital Marketing Communication Channels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-13, December.
    27. Oleksii Lyulyov & Bogdan Moskalenko, 2020. "Institutional Quality and Shadow Economy: An Investment Potential Evaluation Model," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 3(4), pages 131-146, October.
    28. Yevheniia Ziabina & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2020. "The Green Deal Policy for Renewable Energy: A Bibliometric Analysis," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 3(4), pages 147-168, October.
    29. Henryk Dzwigol & Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2023. "Renewable Energy, Knowledge Spillover and Innovation: Capacity of Environmental Regulation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-15, January.
    30. Ma, Qiang & Tariq, Muhammad & Mahmood, Haider & Khan, Zeeshan, 2022. "The nexus between digital economy and carbon dioxide emissions in China: The moderating role of investments in research and development," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    31. Ghulam Ghouse & Aribah Aslam & Muhammad Ishaq Bhatti, 2022. "The Impact of the Environment, Digital–Social Inclusion, and Institutions on Inclusive Growth: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-19, September.
    32. Samuel Kwaku Agyei & Godwin Adolf Idan, 2022. "Trade Openness, Institutions, and Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    33. Stephen Acheampong & Tetyana Pimonenko & Oleksii Lyulyov, 2023. "Sustainable Marketing Performance of Banks in the Digital Economy: The Role of Customer Relationship Management," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 6(1), pages 19-37, March.
    34. Volodymyr Nesterenko & Radoslaw Miskiewicz & Rafis Abazov, 2023. "Marketing Communications in the Era of Digital Transformation," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 6(1), pages 57-70, March.
    35. Yana Us & Tetyana Pimonenko & Oleksii Lyulyov & Yang Chen & Tatjana Tambovceva, 2022. "Promoting Green Brand of University in Social Media: Text Mining and Sentiment Analysis," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 5(1), pages 24-42, April.
    36. Yurii Kharazishvili & Aleksy Kwilinski, 2022. "Methodology for Determining the Limit Values of National Security Indicators Using Artificial Intelligence Methods," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 5(4), pages 7-26, December.
    37. Briglauer, Wolfgang & Köppl-Turyna, Monika & Schwarzbauer, Wolfgang & Bittó, Virág, 2023. "Evaluating the effects of ICT core elements on CO2 emissions: Recent evidence from OECD countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8).
    38. Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2023. "Greenfield Investment as a Catalyst of Green Economic Growth," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, March.
    39. Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Henryk Dzwigol & Ihor Vakulenko & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2022. "Integrative Smart Grids’ Assessment System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-18, January.
    40. Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2023. "Inclusive Economic Growth: Relationship between Energy and Governance Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-16, March.
    41. Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2023. "The Effects of Urbanisation on Green Growth within Sustainable Development Goals," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, February.
    42. Aleksy Kwilinski & Nataliya Dalevska & Vyacheslav V. Dementyev, 2022. "Metatheoretical Issues of the Evolution of the International Political Economy," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-14, March.
    43. Hasan Huseyin Coban & Wojciech Lewicki & Radosław Miśkiewicz & Wojciech Drożdż, 2022. "The Economic Dimension of Using the Integration of Highway Sound Screens with Solar Panels in the Process of Generating Green Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-20, December.
    44. Syed Abdul Rehman Khan & Arsalan Zahid Piprani & Zhang Yu, 2022. "Digital technology and circular economy practices: future of supply chains," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 676-688, December.
    45. Oleksandr Melnychenko, 2020. "Is Artificial Intelligence Ready to Assess an Enterprise’s Financial Security?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, August.
    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. Wei, Rongrong & Xia, Yueming, 2024. "Digital transformation and corporate green total factor productivity: Based on double/debiased machine learning robustness estimation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 808-827.

    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. Edward Owusu & Jones Lewis Arthur & Kwaku Amofah, 2023. "Cross-Сultural Communication Strategies in the Digital Era: A Bibliometric Analysis," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 6(2), pages 55-71, June.
    2. Iryna Nyenno & Vyacheslav Truba & Liudmyla Tokarchuk, 2023. "Managerial Future of the Artificial Intelligence," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 6(2), pages 72-88, June.
    3. Aleksy Kwilinski, 2024. "Mapping Global Research on Green Energy and Green Investment: A Comprehensive Bibliometric Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-24, February.
    4. Henryk Dzwigol & Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2024. "Digitalization and Energy in Attaining Sustainable Development: Impact on Energy Consumption, Energy Structure, and Energy Intensity," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Henryk Dzwigol & Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2023. "The Role of Environmental Regulations, Renewable Energy, and Energy Efficiency in Finding the Path to Green Economic Growth," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-18, March.
    6. Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko & Denys Pudryk, 2024. "Global Image of Countries and Immigration Flows," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2024(4), pages 83-101.
    7. Radoslaw Miskiewicz, 2022. "Clean and Affordable Energy within Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Governance Digitalization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Xiaoli Wu & Yaoyao Qin & Qizhuo Xie & Yunyi Zhang, 2022. "The Mediating and Moderating Effects of the Digital Economy on PM 2.5 : Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-17, November.
    9. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "Assessing the digital economy and its carbon-mitigation effects: The case of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    10. Lyu Jun & Shuang Lu & Xiang Li & Zeng Li & Chenglong Cao, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Industrial Carbon Emission Efficiency and Their Impacts from Digital Economy at Chinese Prefecture-Level Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-17, September.
    11. Jingrong Tan & Lin Chen, 2022. "Spatial Effect of Digital Economy on Particulate Matter 2.5 in the Process of Smart Cities: Evidence from Prefecture-Level Cities in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-20, November.
    12. Saia, Artjom, 2023. "Digitalization and CO2 emissions: Dynamics under R&D and technology innovation regimes," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    13. Liang, Yingying & Qin, Jindong & Ishizaka, Alessio, 2025. "Assessment of digital economy development with the new multicriteria sorting method: DCMSort," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    14. Aleksy Kwilinski & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko, 2023. "Greenfield Investment as a Catalyst of Green Economic Growth," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, March.
    15. Zhongxin Ma & Fenglan Wu, 2022. "Smart City, Digitalization and CO 2 Emissions: Evidence from 353 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko & Alfonso Infante-Moro & Andrew Zimbroff & Yevheniia Ziabina, 2024. "The Role of Visual Branding in Driving Investment Attractiveness in the Digitalisation Era: Psychophysiological Data Analysis," Virtual Economics, The London Academy of Science and Business, vol. 7(4), pages 7-29, December.
    17. Shunbin Zhong & Huafu Shen & Ziheng Niu & Yang Yu & Lin Pan & Yaojun Fan & Atif Jahanger, 2022. "Moving towards Environmental Sustainability: Can Digital Economy Reduce Environmental Degradation in China?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-23, November.
    18. Ruiyuan Dong & Xiaowei Zhou, 2023. "Analysis of the Nonlinear and Spatial Spillover Effects of the Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions in the Yellow River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    19. Ziyao Fang & Ziyang Liu, 2025. "Digital Innovations Driving Urban Sustainability: Key Factors in Reducing Carbon Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-25, March.
    20. Yukun Ma & Shaojian Wang & Chunshan Zhou, 2023. "Can the Development of the Digital Economy Reduce Urban Carbon Emissions? Case Study of Guangdong Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-13, March.

    More about this item

    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:wly:sustdv:v:32:y:2024:i:5:p:5797-5811. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    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.