The environmental effects of the “twin” green and digital transition in European regions

Abstract

This study explores the nexus between digital and green transformations—the so-called “twin” transition—in European regions in an effort to identify the impact of digital and environmental technologies on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions originating from industrial production. We conduct an empirical analysis based on an original dataset that combines information on environmental and digital patent applications with information on GHG emissions from highly polluting plants for the period 2007–2016 at the metropolitan region level in the European Union and the UK. Results show that the local development of environmental technologies reduces GHG emissions, while the local development of digital technologies increases them, albeit in the latter case different technologies seem to have different impacts on the environment, with big data and computing infrastructures being the most detrimental. We also find differential impacts across regions depending on local endowment levels of the respective technologies: the beneficial effect of environmental technologies is stronger in regions with large digital technology endowments and, conversely, the detrimental effect of digital technologies is weaker in regions with large green technology endowments. Policy actions promoting the “twin” transition should take this evidence into account, in light of the potential downside of the digital transformation when not combined with the green transformation.

The role of foreign MNEs in China’s twin transition: a study on the organization of green and digital innovation processes

“…They demonstrate that regional industrial structure needs to be understood to establish the link between AI and sustainability. Bianchini et al. (2023) examined the impact of digital and green technologies on greenhouse gas emissions in European regions.…”

The impact of computing infrastructure on carbon emissions: an empirical study based on china national supercomputing center

“…Secondly, the level of green innovation has not yet reached a point where it can fully mitigate the carbon footprint associated with NSC development. While the development of carbon capture and storage technology, biological carbon fixation technology, hydrogen, solar energy, wind energy, and other renewable energy sources can assist in reducing CO2 emissions from different aspects (Fan et al 2022, Wang et al 2022a, Bianchini et al 2022, it is apparent that the development of green technology has not eased the negative impacts of rising energy demands (including improvements to the energy structure). The results of the investigation into energy structure and green innovation mechanisms also indicate that the NSC project has not demonstrated significant composition effect (energy structure improvement) and technology effect (green technology innovation).…”

“…Of course, knowledge spillover can also be reflected in the innovation of green technology (Zou and Pan 2022, Wang et al 2022b, Wu et al 2023. On the contrary, critics argue that the mass production of digital devices make digital technology the main consumer of materials (Jin et al 2022, Bianchini et al 2022. The generation of e-waste may release large amounts of harmful gases (Bianchini et al 2022).…”

“…On the contrary, critics argue that the mass production of digital devices make digital technology the main consumer of materials (Jin et al 2022, Bianchini et al 2022. The generation of e-waste may release large amounts of harmful gases (Bianchini et al 2022). Additionally, the digital industry is a highly energy-intensive field that consumes a significant amount of electricity (JoppaL and Herweijer 2018, Jones 2018, Galperova and Mazurova 2019, Bianchini et al 2022.…”

“…The generation of e-waste may release large amounts of harmful gases (Bianchini et al 2022). Additionally, the digital industry is a highly energy-intensive field that consumes a significant amount of electricity (JoppaL and Herweijer 2018, Jones 2018, Galperova and Mazurova 2019, Bianchini et al 2022. If the energy structure of the region is still dominated by fossil fuels, the construction of digital infrastructure will result in an increase in pollutant emissions.…”