Wind energy is one of the renewable energy sources that has been touted to address the challenges of energy security and environmental degradation. This is only attainable if countries with substantial wind energy potential use it in significant proportion to satisfy their energy needs. One promising sector where wind energy can be employed to actualize this potential is the electricity sector. However, the current reality is that fossil fuels still dominate the energy profiles of most economies of the world, including the advanced economies, with wind renewable energy source accounting for a very small proportion of the energy mix. Germany is one of the few countries that offers promising opportunities in deploying wind energy to its full potentials. This study therefore explores the feasibility of substituting wind energy for nuclear energy and other fossil fuels using Germany as a country of focus. We use the ridge regression procedure to analyse yearly time series data for the German power sector that spans the period 1986 to 2018. With respect to output elasticities of the energy inputs, the results reveal that wind and natural gas have positive output elasticity estimates while the estimates for nuclear and coal are negative. We also found that all the inputs pairs have positive substitution elasticity estimates between them. With respect to wind energy, the highest substitutability estimate occurred with nuclear power which is followed by natural gas and then coal. The study recommended that policies such as granting of tax credit for wind energy technology, reduction in property taxes for wind power facilities, and allocation of fund for research and development (R&D) in wind energy technology are recommended to promote the use of wind energy in the economy.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more than 4.3 million confirmed cases and more than 2,90,000 deaths worldwide. It has also given rise to fears of an imminent economic crisis and recession. Social distance, self-isolation, and travel restrictions have led to a reduction in the workforce across all economical sectors and have led to a loss of many jobs. Schools have closed down, and the need for commodities and manufactured goods has decreased. On the other hand, the need for medical supplies has increased significantly. The food sector is also facing increased demand as a result of panic buying and storing food products. In response to this global outbreak, we summarize the socioeconomic effects of COVID-19 on the various aspects of the world economy. In Malaysia, the COVID-19 epidemic has checked the resilience of the agriculture sector. Especially the Malaysian paddy industry as country imports 30% of its overall consumption from different parts of the world. The real price of rice triplicating for the consumers, which was alarming for nations in this pandemic situation. The Government of Malaysia introduced the National Agrofood Policy 2011-2020 (NAP4) in 2010 as a guidance document for the implementation of agricultural sector development programs and projects in Malaysia. The NAP4 's 10-year term is to be finished by the end of 2020. Several sectors demonstrate substantial success after approximately 8 years of introduction, while the other classes often lag behind the goal and progress quite slowly. Agricultural sector performance is affected by many problems and challenges. In acknowledgment of the poor success of this field, the Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Based Industry has launched new approaches, policies, and programs that can change the agricultural sector more rapidly. The new direction is aimed at ensuring national food security and boosting farm and revenues. The authorized government agency needs to revise the policy formulation where Malaysia needs to set stages to revolutionize and modernize the rice farming to address the problem faced by the paddy sector in this pandemic situation to adopt GF. In this study, the researcher focuses on the improvisation of the policy to increase the paddy production sustainably.
Mangrove land use changes of varied intensities have long been a problem in tropical mangrove forests. This has resulted in various degrees of mangrove land use modification, which catch many interests in the region for research. The research provided here is a bibliometric analysis of scholarly articles published around the world in various publication document types on changes in land use of tropical mangrove forests based on remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS). Scientific data analysis was undertaken by using bibliometric approaches on 6,574 papers extracted from the Scopus databases between 2010 and 2020. The findings revealed that the number of publications continuously climbed from under 400 to an average of 50-60 per year till 2019. The data showed that the mangrove forest modifications study gained traction when the highest number of citations, 9,236 in 2015, were observed. We can also notice that the overall number of citations fluctuated a lot during the first five years (2010-2015) but increased from 2013 to 2015. The findings demonstrate how remote sensing satellites have aided vegetation and land study in recent years. The findings also revealed that the analysis tools of Land Use Change, Vegetation Index, Mangrove, Tropical Country, Remote Sensing, and Tropical contributed to scientific knowledge of current issues of mangrove land use change in the tropical region. The authors' keywords, Remote Sensing in particular, supplied roughly 43%, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (13%), Vegetation Index (9%), and other keywords contributed less than 7%. The growth pattern of the keywords "MODIS" and "Landsat" implies that both will stay important over the next five years, according to an analysis of the type of satellite used in land use assessment. Meanwhile, papers pertaining to policy on land use change, food security, and forest resources were evaluated in order to highlight policy and academic research findings on the topics. The application of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, which is a very relevant tool that can be used in monitoring land use changes and assessing vegetation status because it is a desirable technique in measuring plant health and vigour, can help fill the research gaps presented in this study. This review can help with the development of better mangrove land use change approaches in tropical mangroves and around the world using satellite remote sensing and GIS.
A transition towards a circular economy is a challenge. It is vital to know that circularity and sustainability are two different segments. So, circular economy can only be achieved in the long-term perspective. This study investigates accounting and accountability for circular economy and waste. Considering these principles and based on a critical review of the literature, economic gains from the transition toward a circular economy are measurable; the problems for corporations and governments are diverse; the way to handle the stakeholders who are losing control in the circular economy is considerable. Diffusion of innovation theory is used to conduct this study. It is essential that an organisational design built should help implement the circular model. Targeted questions responded by adopting a systematic literature review approach by applying PRISMA protocol. This study examines 78 publications in English between 2012 and 2021, which present a map of the circular economy-related knowledge published in web of science and Scopus. Besides, this study includes 03 European Commission reports, 01 Ellen Macarthur Foundation report, 01 Council for the Environment and Infrastructure report, 01 report from SUN IZA, 01 UN Global Compact and 01 the Brundtland Commission report. The results highlight how circular economy, waste management, sustainability, accountability, and management accounting practices help to develop an ecosystem and achieve sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
This study aims to explore the state-wise assessment of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic spread in Malaysia with focus on influence of meteorological parameters and air quality. In this study, state-wise COVID-19 data, meteorological parameters and air quality index (AQI) were collected from March 13 to April 30, 2020, which encompass three movement control order (MCO) periods in the country. Overall, total infected cases were observed to be higher in MCO phase 1 and 2 and significantly reduced in MCO phase 3. Due to the variation in the spatial interval of population density and individual immunity, the relationship of these parameters to pandemic spread could not be achieved. The study infers that temperature (T) between 23 and 25 °C and relative humidity (RH) (70-80%) triggered the pandemic spread by increase in the infected cases in northern and central Peninsular Malaysia. Selangor, WP Kuala Lumpur and WP Putrajaya show significantly high infected cases and a definite trend was not observed with respect to a particular meteorological factor. It is identified that high precipitation (PPT), RH and good air quality have reduced the spread in East Malaysia. A negative correlation of T and AQI and positive correlation of RH with total infected cases were found during MCO phase 3. Principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that T, RH, PPT, dew point (DP) and AQI are the main controlling factors for the spread across the country apart from social distancing. Vulnerability zones were identified based on the spatial analysis of T, RH, PPT and AQI with reference to total infected cases. Based on time series analysis, it was determined that higher RH and T in Peninsular Malaysia and high amount of PPT, RH and good air quality in East Malaysia have controlled the spreading during MCO phase 3. The predominance of D614 mutant was observed prior to March and decreases at the end of March, coinciding with the fluctuation of meteorological factors and air quality. The outcome of this study gives a general awareness to the public on COVID-19 and the influence of meteorological factors. It will also help the policymakers to enhance the management plans against the pandemic spreading apart from social distancing in the next wave of COVID-19.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-021-01719-z.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a global appeal to protect the environment, combat climate change, eradicate poverty, and ensure access to a high quality of life and prosperity for all. The next decade is crucial for determining the planet's direction in ensuring that populations can adapt to climate change. This study aims to investigate the progress, challenges, opportunities, trends, and prospects of the SDGs through a bibliometric analysis from 2015 to 2022, providing insight into the evolution and maturity of scientific research in the field. The Web of Science core collection citation database was used for the bibliometric analysis, which was conducted using VOSviewer and RStudio. We analyzed 12,176 articles written in English to evaluate the present state of progress, as well as the challenges and opportunities surrounding the SDGs. This study utilized a variety of methods to identify research hotspots, including analysis of keywords, productive researchers, and journals. In addition, we conducted a comprehensive literature review by utilizing the Web of Science database. The results show that 31% of SDG-related research productivity originates from the USA, China, and the UK, with an average citation per article of 15.06. A total of 45,345 authors around the world have contributed to the field of SDGs, and collaboration among authors is also quite high. The core research topics include SDGs, climate change, Agenda 2030, the circular economy, poverty, global health, governance, food security, sub-Saharan Africa, the Millennium Development Goals, universal health coverage, indicators, gender, and inequality. The insights gained from this analysis will be valuable for young researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and public officials as they seek to identify patterns and high-quality articles related to SDGs. By advancing our understanding of the subject, this research has the potential to inform and guide future efforts to promote sustainable development. The findings indicate a concentration of research and development on SDGs in developed countries rather than in developing and underdeveloped countries.
Soil is a fundamental resource with its value vital to the world's ecosystem. Due to the fact that soil is one of the bases of all terrestrial life, humans cannot survive without it. However, soil erosion has jeopardized soil sustainability and affected the environmental quality, leaving a bad impact if these issues were not tackled at an earlier phase. Many research has been done to predict soil erosion susceptibility areas using different methods. This research aims to classify the contributing factors of soil erosion according to the risk and generate a soil erosion risk prediction map in Cameron Highlands. Thus, this research focuses on a knowledge-driven method that uses Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique to achieve the objectives. This technique consists of weighing the factors adopted by comparing pairs of factors that control erosion in this area through experts' opinions. 15 factors have been chosen to build the prediction map. Result shows that rainfall erosivity is the main factor contributing to soil erosion in Cameron Highlands which is 0.110, followed by land use (0.095), slope steepness (0.089), soil texture (0.079), NDVI (0.079), TWI (0.072), slope length (0.065), slope aspect (0.064), slope altitude (0.062), SPI (0.061), lithology (0.060), slope curvature (0.054), drainage density (0.049), distance to road (0.029) and distance to stream (0.025). The west part of the study area was exposed to a high risk of soil erosion. This research will give the decision-makers, policymakers and planners insight into minimizing the soil erosion problem and suggest better precautions and solutions to overcome this severe environmental problem in the more advanced phase.
Based on the analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of 2879 attractions POI in Chengdu, this paper studies the spatial distribution types, spatial concentration, and equilibrium of attractions by using standard deviation ellipse, geographic concentration index, and kernel density estimation. Buffer analysis, near analysis, correlation analysis, and grey relation analysis are used to study the influencing factors of tourism in Chengdu. The results show that: (1) The overall attractions POI in Chengdu is in an east-west direction, and except for other types of attractions POI, the remaining types are also in an east-west direction. (2) The spatial agglomeration areas of different types of attractions POI in Chengdu were quite different. Among them, parks and city squares were mainly concentrated in the central urban areas, namely Jinjiang, Qingyang, Jinniu, Wuhou, and Chenghua, forming a prominent gathering area. (3) There were differences in the influence degree of each factor on the spatial distribution of attractions POI. Topography and drainage, transportation, tourist source market, and other factors significantly correlated with the distribution of attractions, which were the main factors affecting the spatial distribution of attractions. Industrial development and economic population were also important factors affecting the distribution of attractions. Tourism is an important thrust for urban development. The study of the spatial distribution of tourism and its influencing factors has clear guiding significance for later tourism development, which can help optimize the integration of tourism resources, promote the cooperation of regional tourism development and provide a basis for decision-making for tourism development.
Developing markets are using sustainable development potential to reach zero-carbon goals. Due to the limitation of natural resources, companies need to use environmentally friendly manufacturing to develop a circular economy (CE). Green finance (GF) and the CE are linked in a systematic and complex approach; therefore, it was essential to employ the coupling coordination-level framework to explain their relationship and feedback. Any study linking green financing and CE together has been found. The objective of this research is to explore this twofold domain and determine its main characteristics. To address this objective, a comprehensive review of the literature was conducted, supplemented by a bibliometric analysis. The results confirm that GF has the potential to help society, sustainability, and the prevention to climate shifts, investing in the CE. There are many hurdles to overcome, including inadequate knowledge about CE and GF, ambiguous definitions, a lack of coherence between legal frameworks on CE and green financing, unclear laws, and a lack of financially viable motivation for investors and financial institutions that are ready to promote in sustainability. This study explores CE and GF domains. Managers may readily increase their understanding of methods, strategies, and technical solutions beneficial to assist their operations toward a green economy depending on various CE and GF elements. Finally, based on a categorization of GF types, the assessment identifies future investment potential consequences of green financing in the CE.
The circular economy concept is popular among developed countries contributing to sustainable production, efficient resource utilization, a new economic model, and higher skill job creation. In production and consumption, it is inevitable in our modern life that we are used to the traditional linear economy cradle-to-cradle model. With the gap in developing countries within the Southeast Asia region, this research aims to understand the motivators and barriers to circular economy business model adoption among the manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Subsequently, the impact of sustainable production will be studied based on the circular economy business model adoption. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, this study assesses the responses of 102 respondents from various industries with environmental management systems within Malaysia. Survey-based primary data was gathered to understand motivators and barriers that negatively influence the circular economy business adoption, affecting sustainable production. The findings show that motivators have a positive impact while barriers have a negative impact on circular economy business model adoption. Apart from the barriers and motivators, the research also assesses the level of circular economy adoption among manufacturing firms with certified environmental management systems. This implies a general overview for manufacturing firms in Malaysia regarding circular economy adoption and contributes to the studies done in developing nations. In conclusion, motivators positively impact the adoption of the circular economy business model, while barriers have a negative effect. In addition, adopting the circular economy model has a positive relationship with sustainable production.
In recent years, the concept of a circular economy (CE) has gained importance and attracted significant attention among scholars and practitioners. Research that examines the firm's supply chain capabilities and orientation for performance is well established nonetheless still lacking in supporting the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. The firms can foster a closed-loop supply chain orientation (CLSCO) through strategic green capabilities as an alternative obtainable to SC firms to achieve CE performance. Thus, this study is interested to examine the antecedents and outcomes of CLSCO by applying the Resource-Based View and Natural Resource-Based View theories. In total, 150 Malaysian manufacturers responded to the survey and were analysed using the SEM Lisrel method. Among the hypotheses tested, only one had no direct effect on CLSCO, and that was the recovery capacities. The remaining hypothesis indicates that CLSCO is positively affected by integration and production capabilities. In contrast, the results of CLSCO indicate that the extent of a company's CLSCO does affect its success in the circular economy. The study concludes, based on the RBV and NRBV principles, that the success of firms in optimising their resources would enable them to use the CLSCO and attain CE performance. Thus, there are numerous ways in which this study can provide practitioners with valuable research insights.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the world, accounting for more than 30% of global GDP and 60% of world population. The economic growth of BRI member countries can be improved significantly, attributable to the successfulness of the infrastructure projects. The increased economic growth indirectly leads to higher energy consumption and environmental damage. In response to this, the BRI established a new concept and version of the project, namely green BRI. Thus, this study aims to examine if green finance plays a significant role in mitigating environmental degradation in the BRI region. Utilising a Generalised Method of Moments approach, we find green finance is negatively and significantly correlated with environmental degradation, suggesting green finance play an essential role to reduce the deterioration of environmental quality, while enhancing economic growth at the same time. In conclusion, BRI member states should continue promoting green finance by implementing incentive schemes, such as subsidising interest rates for the green loan, reducing corporate tax and establishing green credit guarantee scheme. Besides, in order simultaneously enhance economic growth, promote sustainability and achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, both governments and private sector should work hand in hand to promote green transformation of BRI.
In light of environmental issues, lignocellulosic empty fruit bunch (EFB) biomass is promoted as a carbon-neutral, environmentally friendly, and renewable alternative feedstock. A comprehensive environmental assessment of EFB biorefineries is critical for determining their sustainability in parallel with the bioeconomy policy. Nonetheless, no life cycle assessment (LCA) has been performed on co-producing food and biochemicals (furfural and glucose) derived from EFB biomass. This research is the first to evaluate the environmental performance of the furfural and glucose co-production processes from EFB biomass. Environmental analysis is conducted using a prospective gate-to-gate LCA for four impact categories, including global warming potential (GWP), acidification (ADP), eutrophication (EP), and human toxicity (HT). Aspen Plus is used to simulate the co-production process of furfural and glucose as well as generate mass and energy balances for LCA inventory data usage. The findings suggest that the environmental footprint in respect of GWP, ADP, EP, and HT is 4846.85 kg CO2 equivalent per ton EFB, 7.24 kg SO2 equivalent per ton EFB, 1.52 kg PO4 equivalent per ton EFB, and 2.62E-05 kg 1,4-DB equivalent per ton EFB, respectively. The normalized overall impact scores for GWP, ADP, EP, and HT are 1.16E-10, 2.28E-11, 6.12E-10, and 2.18E-17 years/ton of EFB, respectively. In summary, the proposed integrated plant is not only economically profitable but also environmentally sustainable. In the attempt to enhance the Malaysian economic sector based on the EFB, this study has the potential to serve as an indicator of the environmental sustainability of the palm oil industry.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-022-02633-8.
Ecotourism offers several economic, environmental, and cultural benefits; however, even after all these years, achieving ecotourism sustainability is still complex because of multiple stakeholders with diversified interests and influence. This study focused on the multiple stakeholders' complexity and management for achieving sustainable ecotourism in Penang Hill in Malaysia. Understanding the existence of multiple stakeholders with varying interests and their respective power of influence is critical for a tourism destination to be sustainable. This study aimed to create a multi-stakeholder management framework and understand stakeholder management's mediating role toward ecotourism sustainability in Penang Hill. Data were collected from Penang Hill key stakeholders and analyzed using SmartPLS and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). The findings revealed that stakeholder management plays a significant mediating role in achieving ecotourism sustainability. Stakeholders' interests and their level of influence should be understood to develop engagement, empowerment, and monitoring strategies for managing stakeholders. Thus, the study contributes by validating the results through symmetric and asymmetric techniques, offering solutions to the emerging issues during the Covid-19 pandemic, and recommending policy changes. Lastly, the study also extends prior literature by displaying the mediating role played by stakeholder management on ecotourism sustainability, comparing indirect and total effects on stakeholder management support for achieving sustainable ecotourism in Penang Hill.
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the global demand and consumption of energy. In particular, the effect of the lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen directly in the reduced energy consumption in educational buildings. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the electricity use in university buildings. The Research Complex Building of the National University of Malaysia was selected as a case study. An energy audit analysis was conducted based on the data collection via walk-through field audits and data loggers during the normal year (2019) to establish a baseline of data. The comparison of the electricity pattern during the normal year with the lockdown period of 2020 shows that the Building Energy Index (BEI) during a pandemic decreased by approximately 11% from the BEI in the normal year. In this regard, the energy audit verified that the main factors of electricity consumption are occupant presence and energy use in buildings. Hence, on the basis of the energy audit results, three appropriate energy conservation measures (ECMs) were detected and subsequently proposed to minimise the waste of energy. Results show that the implementation of ECMs can improve the energy consumption of buildings and reduce energy consumption by 21.81% or approximately 19% from the normal year. Hence, efficient energy use in buildings in the post-pandemic period can be achieved by the implementation of all the ECMs proposed.
The finance and natural resources revenue nexus play a critical role in an economy. The recent development and significant increase in academic literature regarding the resource-finance nexus are the primary motivations for conducting this study. This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of 363 documents published between 1976 and 2021 collected from the Scopus database. The results have been demonstrated via graphs, tables, knowledge maps about the past trends, growth, and prospects using co-occurrence, co-authorship, and co-citation analysis via the VOSviewer tool. This study has identified prolific authors, journals, countries, academic institutions, and future pathways. The findings indicate that China has the highest share of publications (88, 24.2%), followed by Pakistan (58, 15.9%) and Turkey (37, 10.2%). The most productive academic institution is the Beijing Institute of Technology in China (13, 3.6%). This study proposes new avenues for further research concerning the resource-finance nexus, such as ecological footprint, sustainability, fiscal decentralization, green investment, energy prices, environmental quality, technological innovation, financial resource curse (especially the stock market resource curse), human capital, and renewable energy in policy development and sustainability towards the achievement of the SDGs.