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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
An Emerging Force for Curbing Carbon
Emissions: Convergence of Digital
and Energy Industries
1
School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, 830046, China
2
Engineering Research Center of Northwest Energy Carbon Neutrality (ERCNECN), Ministry of Education,
Urumqi, 830046, China
3
Institute for Macroeconomy High-Quality Development of Xinjiang, Urumqi, 830046, China
4
Strategy and Decision-making Research Center of Xinjiang Energy Carbon Neutrality (Xinjiang University),
Urumqi, 830046, China
Submission date: 2024-04-03
Final revision date: 2024-05-13
Acceptance date: 2024-05-19
Online publication date: 2024-12-31
Publication date: 2025-04-04
Corresponding author
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(4):3795-3811
KEYWORDS
digital industry and energy industryindustrial convergencecarbon emissionsindustrial structure upgradinggreen technology innovation
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The digital industry and the energy industry are the two primary forces behind contemporary
economic and social progress, and their convergence development is the necessary path to realizing
carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. The paper measures the level of convergence of the digital
industry and energy industry (CDIEI) and empirically examines its relationship with China’s
30 provinces’ carbon emissions (CE) between 2012-2021. Considering the differences in geographical
location and industrial convergence level, the heterogeneity of the CDIEI on CE was analyzed.
The intrinsic influence mechanism and nonlinear effects of the two were deeply explored. The results
indicated that the CDIEI can reduce CE, which was further corroborated by several robustness checks.
The carbon reduction effect of the CDIEI is more significant in the central and eastern regions, as well
as in high convergence areas. The CDIEI can curb CE by stimulating industrial structure upgrading
(ISU) and boosting green technology innovation (GTI). When ISU and GTI cross a single threshold,
the CDIEI can significantly curb CE. The study’s findings offer reference value for raising the CDIEI
and minimizing CE immediately.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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