Does waste energy usage mitigate the CO2 emissions? A time-frequency domain analysis

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2020-02, Vol.27 (5), p.5056-5073
• Main Authors: Bilgili, Faik, Kuşkaya, Sevda, Ünlü, Fatma, Gençoğlu, Pelin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Emissions; Energy consumption; Energy policy; Energy usage; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental quality; Environmental science; Frequency analysis; Frequency domain analysis; Research Article; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-07253-w

There exist many seminal studies in the literature searching the influences of total renewable usage (or usage of its some components) on CO 2 emissions. However, to the best of our knowledge, there does not exist a research work in the literature considering the co-movements between waste energy consumption and CO 2 emissions. This paper aims at observing the possible negative or positive impacts of waste energy consumption on environmental quality (in terms of CO 2 ) by monitoring the whole sample period and all subsample periods in the USA for the monthly period 1980:1–2018:12. This paper searches also the positive or negative lead-lag relations between waste and CO 2 emissions, if exist, by considering high frequency (1–3-year cycle) and low frequency (3–8-year cycle) of the same sample period and subsample periods. The findings obtained by this research in general might underline (a) the outcome indicating that waste energy usage has been effective in diminishing the carbon emissions after the second half of the 2010s in the USA and (b) the energy policy act(s) in the USA implemented which eventually resulted in lower CO 2 emissions in the USA especially after the second half of the 2000s. The paper suggests as well some policy proposals which might result in positive contribution of waste energy on environmental quality.