The role of solar energy and eco-innovation in reducing environmental degradation in China: Evidence from QARDL approach

Abstract

In the past decade, researchers have shifted their interests to explore different ways to mitigate environmental degradation. In that context, the present study explores the role of solar energy and eco-innovation in reducing environmental degradation in China. The study utilized data for the period 1990-2018 and applied the latest available econometric technique, a quantile autoregressive distributed lag model, to determine the impacts of solar energy and eco-innovation on improving China's environmental quality. According to the empirical results, in the long term, solar energy is negatively and significantly associated with CO₂ emissions at higher quantiles. Eco-innovation has proven to be the most important channel to mitigate CO₂ emissions in China. Eco-innovation is exerting a negative and significant influence on CO₂ emissions at all quantiles in the long term. In addition, the population size is causing CO₂ emissions to surge significantly at lower quantiles. The empirical analysis reveals that per capita income (PI) is positively associated with CO₂ emissions at all quantiles, but it is significant only at higher quantiles in China. We found evidence of unidirectional causality for eco-innovation to CO₂ emissions and solar energy to CO₂ emissions. However, for population and CO₂ emissions, per capita income, and CO₂ emissions, we found bidirectional causality. As indicated by our empirical results, solar energy and eco-innovation are the two most effective channels to control CO₂ emissions in China. Therefore, policies based on the promotion of eco-innovation and the initiation of new solar energy projects can control emissions and improve environmental quality in China. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:555-571. © 2021 SETAC.