The Impact of Environmental Technological Innovations on CO2Emissions: The Case of OECD Countries

Year 2021, Volume: 71 Issue: 2, 569 - 590, 31.12.2021

Mehmet Akyol , Emrullah Mete

https://doi.org/10.26650/ISTJECON2021-935480

Abstract

Global warming and climate change, caused by greenhouse gas emissions, have compelled all countries to reconsider their production factors. Developing technologies to reduce emission volumes has been one of the priority targets for countries. This study investigated the impact of environmental technological innovations on CO2 emissions in 18 OECD members. The panel generalized method of moments (GMM)was employed in the study to produce estimates for the period between 2005 and 2018. Energy consumption, economic growth (GDP), and technological innovation data were used as independent variables in the study, CO2 emissions were used as dependent variable, whereas the  number of patents preventing climate change was used as a technological innovation indicator. The analysis results showed that a 1% increase in patent applications for preventing climate change reduced CO2 emissions by 0.02%. However, a 1% increase in energy consumption caused an increase of 0.56% in CO2 emissions. Finally, the 1% increase in the GDP growth rate caused an increase of 0.002% in CO2 emissions.

Çevresel Teknolojik İnovasyonların CO2 Emisyonu Üzerindeki Etkisi: OECD Ülkeleri Örneğ

Abstract

Sera gazı emisyonlarının neden olduğu küresel ısınma ve iklim değişikliği tüm ülkeleri üretim faktörlerini yeniden gözden geçirmeye zorlamaktadır. Emisyon hacimlerini düşürücü teknolojilerin geliştirilmesi ülkeler için öncelikli hedeflerden biri olmuştur. Bu çalışmada çevresel teknolojik inovasyonların CO2 emisyonu üzerindeki etkisi OECD kurucu üyesi 18 ülke için araştırılmıştır. 2005-2018 yılları arası dönemin incelendiği çalışmada panel genelleştirilmiş momentler metodu (GMM) yönteminden yararlanılmıştır. Bağımlı değişken olarak CO2 emisyonunun kullanıldığı çalışmada enerji tüketimi, ekonomik büyüme (GSYH) ve teknolojik inovasyon verileri bağımsız değişken olarak kullanılmıştır. Teknolojik inovasyon göstergesi olarak iklim değişikliğini önleyici patent sayıları kullanılmıştır. Analiz sonuçlarına göre, iklim değişikliğini önlemeye yönelik patent başvurularında meydana gelen %1 düzeyinde artış CO2 emisyonunu %0.02 oranında azaltmaktadır. Diğer yandan enerji tüketiminde meydana gelen %1 düzeyindeki artış CO2 emisyonu üzerinde %0.56 oranında artışa neden olmaktadır. Son olarak GSYH büyüme hızında meydana gelen %1 düzeyindeki artış ise CO2 emisyonu üzerinde %0.001 oranında artışa neden olmaktadır.

Keywords

Teknolojik inovasyon, CO2 emisyonu, Çevresel patentler

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