Sustainable development beyond emissions: the role of ICT, load capacity factor, green technology patents, and energy transition in OECD countries

Sustainable development has become one of today’s most critical global issues due to environmental pressures and the need to preserve ecological balance. Therefore, evaluating the impact of variables such as information and communication technologies, green technology patents, renewable energy conversion, and load capacity factor on sustainability is critical for evidence-based policy design. This study examines the effects of information and communication technologies, green technology patents, green energy transition, and load capacity factor on sustainable development in selected OECD countries from 1991 to 2021. As an alternative to the existing literature, which generally addresses the environmental dimension of sustainable development using emission-based indicators, this study presents a comprehensive load capacity factor-based analytical framework that assesses environmental pressure and biocapacity together. To capture both long-run equilibrium relationships and heterogeneous dynamic effects across countries, the analysis employs the Dynamic Common Correlated Effects (DCCE) and Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimation methods. This approach enables the assessment of the environmental impacts of digitalization, green technological innovations, and the energy transition as a dynamic process that evolves and interacts over time, rather than a fixed structure. Empirical findings indicate that the impact of these variables on sustainable development varies across countries and policy frameworks. In particular, the interactions between green energy transition, digitalization, and load capacity factor emerge as decisive for effective policy design.