scholarly journals Impact of Economic Growth and Energy Consumption on Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Testing Environmental Curves Hypotheses on EU Countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihaela Sterpu ◽  
Georgeta Soava ◽  
Anca Mehedintu

This study analyses the relationship between per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, gross domestic product, gross inland energy consumption, and renewable energy consumption for a panel of 28 countries of European Union in the period 1990–2016. Two theoretical models, a quadratic and a cubic one, are used to estimate the shape of the environmental curve and to test the Kuznets hypothesis. The panel cointegration approach proved the existence of long-run equilibrium relations among the four macroeconomic indicators. Empirical estimations, using panel data techniques, as well as heterogeneous regression for each individual country in the panel, show non-conclusive evidence for the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The least square estimates, with the variables in log per capita form, reveal that the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis is verified for the panel and for 17 of the 28 EU countries. Estimates of the cubic model show that the environmental curve has an inverted N-shaped form. These results do not hold when the values are in non-logarithmic form. In addition, the estimations for all models show that an increase of gross energy consumption leads to an increase of GHGs, while an increase of renewable energy consumption leads to a reduction in GHG emissions.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2363
Author(s):  
Mihaela Simionescu ◽  
Carmen Beatrice Păuna ◽  
Mihaela-Daniela Vornicescu Niculescu

Considering the necessity of achieving economic development by keeping the quality of the environment, the aim of this paper is to study the impact of economic growth on GHG emissions in a sample of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (V4 countries, Bulgaria and Romania) in the period of 1996–2019. In the context of dynamic ARDL panel and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), the relationship between GHG and GDP is N-shaped. A U-shaped relationship was obtained in the renewable Kuznets curve (RKC). Energy consumption, domestic credit to the private sector, and labor productivity contribute to pollution, while renewable energy consumption reduces the GHG emissions. However, more efforts are required for promoting renewable energy in the analyzed countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Montassar Kahia ◽  
Anis Omri ◽  
Bilel Jarraya

This study extends previous environmental sustainability literature by investigating the joint impact of economic growth and renewable energy on reducing CO2 emissions in Saudi Arabia over the period 1990–2016. Using the fully modified ordinary least-square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least-square DOLS estimators, we find that economic growth increases CO2 emissions in all estimated models. Moreover, the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is only supported for CO2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption. The invalidity of the EKC hypothesis in the most commonly used models implies that economic growth alone is not sufficient to enhance environmental quality. Renewable energy is found to have a weak influence on reducing the indicators of environmental degradation. We also find that the joint impact of renewable energy consumption and economic growth on the indicators of CO2 emissions is negative and insignificant for all the estimated models, meaning that the level of renewable energy consumption in Saudi Arabia is not sufficient to moderate the negative effect of economic growth on environmental quality. Implications for policy are also discussed.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 3289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasylieva ◽  
Lyulyov ◽  
Bilan ◽  
Streimikiene

The paper investigates the relationships between economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. GDP growth represents the main economic dimension, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and renewable energy consumption the environmental dimension, and corruption the social dimension of sustainable development. The investigation of these relationships is based on the concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis about the non-linear relationship between economic growth and environmental pollution. The authors used the panel data of EU countries and Ukraine for 2000–2016 years from the Eurostat database. The obtained results confirmed the Environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for the EU and Ukraine. All the indicators were statistically significant at 1% and 5% levels. The findings proved that increasing renewable energy (RE) by 1% led to a decline of GHG in the interval (0.166103, 0.220551), and аn increase of the Control of Corruption Index by 1% provoked a decline of GHG by 0.88%. The conducted study enabled the authors to conclude that Ukraine needs to increase the GDP level per capita given the economy diversification and via the introduction of more effective and “clean” production technologies.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3302
Author(s):  
Mihaela Simionescu ◽  
Adam Wojciechowski ◽  
Arkadiusz Tomczyk ◽  
Marcin Rabe

Sustainable development can be achieved when economic development does not produce environmental deterioration. In this context, the aim of the paper is to evaluate the effects of economic development on GHG emissions in the Baltic States (Latvia, Letonia, and Lithuania), and in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland (the Visegrád Group or V4 countries) in the period of 1996–2019. The study introduces dynamic ARDL panels in the context of the traditional environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and renewable Kuznets curve (RKC). The results indicated an inverse-N-shaped and a U-shaped pattern. Energy consumption and labour productivity enhanced pollution, while domestic credit to the private sector, as a share of GDP, and renewable energy consumption supported environmental protection. The implications of these results might help these countries to achieve the targets of the European Green Deal related to the reduction of pollution and the attainment of net zero emissions by 2050. However, national regulations should further promote the use of renewable energy sources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 9150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cem Ișik ◽  
Munir Ahmad ◽  
Uğur Korkut Pata ◽  
Serdar Ongan ◽  
Magdalena Radulescu ◽  
...  

This paper analyzes the legitimacy of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for a group of seven (G7) countries over the period 1995–2015. In addition to testing the EKC speculation, the authors also would like to understand the ways in which increases in renewable energy consumption and the international tourism receipt affect the CO2 emissions in G7 countries, because the energy and tourism sectors may have considerable direct impacts on CO2 emissions. In this investigation, a panel bootstrap cointegration test and an augmented mean group (AMG) estimator were applied. The empirical findings indicate that the tourism-induced EKC hypothesis is valid only for France. Additionally, it was detected that a rise in renewable energy consumption has a negative (reduction) impact on CO2 emissions in France, Italy, the UK, and the US. However, an increase in the receipt of international touristm has a positive (additional) impact on Italy’s CO2 emissions. Hence, this country’s decision-makers should re-review their tourism policy to adopt a renewable-inclusive one for sustainable tourism and the environment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liping Zhang ◽  
Bo Yang ◽  
Atif Jahanger

Abstract This study determines the dynamic linkages between remittances inflow, foreign direct investment, and ecological footprint in top ten remittance-receiving counties in the presence of economic growth and renewable and non-renewable energy under the framework of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis over the period of 1990–2018 by employing the continuously updated fully modified (CUP-FM) and the continuously updated bias-corrected (CUP-BC) estimators. The results show that remittances inflow, foreign direct investment, and non-renewable energy utilization affect the ecological footprint positively while renewable energy utilization negatively impacts on ecological footprint. This study also supports the pollution haven hypothesis and inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis. Furthermore, in order to account for the national heterogeneity, we have executed a country-wise EKC hypothesis, the results of the full modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) support the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in the case of Bangladesh, China, France, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam while displaying a U-shaped curve in Germany, Mexico, and Nigeria. Besides, the results are robust to various robustness analyses that we have executed for inspection of the reliability of our main findings. Finally, this study presents important policy implications with respect to top remittance-receiving countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1611
Author(s):  
Saima Mujeed ◽  
Shuangyan Li ◽  
Musarrat Jabeen ◽  
Abdelmohsen A. Nassani ◽  
Sameh E. Askar ◽  
...  

The role of women in economic development and the global environment is vital for progressing them towards the United Nations sustainable development goal (SDG-5) that emphasized the need to empower women in every walk of life. The study examines women’s autonomy in the sustainable development agenda under China’s open innovation system from 1975 to 2019. The study employed an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, vector autoregressive (VAR) Granger causality, and innovation accounting matrix to estimate parameters. The existing data are summarized and collated in the context of China to explain as a correlational study. The results show that women’s autonomy moderated with technology spills over to decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and substantiate the hump-shaped relationship between them. The increased spending on research and development (R&D) activities, patent publications, and renewable energy consumption empowers women to be equipped with the latest sustainable technologies to improve environmental quality. The pollution haven hypothesis verifies a given country, where trade liberalization policies tend to increase polluting industries to set up their plants that engaged in dirty production that exacerbate GHG emissions. The causality estimates confirmed that technological innovations and renewable energy consumption leads to women’s autonomy. In contrast, females’ share in the labor force participation rate leads to an increase in renewable energy consumption. Thus, it is evident that there is a positive role of women in the country’s sustainable development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7650
Author(s):  
Astrida Miceikienė ◽  
Kristina Gesevičienė ◽  
Daiva Rimkuvienė

The reduction of GHG emissions is one of the priorities of the EU countries. The majority of studies show that financial support and environmental taxes are one of the most effective measures for the mitigation of the negative consequences of climate change. The EU countries employ different environmental support measures and environmental taxes to reduce GHG emissions. There is a shortage of new studies on these measures. The aim of the present study is to compare the effectiveness of the environmental support measures of the EU countries with the effectiveness of environmental taxes in relation to the reduction of GHG emissions. This study is characterized by the broad scope of its data analysis and its systematic approach to the EU’s environmental policy measures. An empirical study was performed for the EU countries with the aim of addressing this research problem and substantiating theoretical insights. A total of 27 EU member states from 2009 to 2018 were selected as research samples. The research is based on a cause-and-effect relationship, where the factors affecting environmental pollution (environmental taxes and subsidies) are the cause, and GHG emissions are the effect. Statistical research methods were used in the empirical study: descriptive statistics, the Shapiro–Wilk test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), simple regression and cluster analysis. The results show that the older member countries of the EU, which had directed the financial measures of environmental policy towards a reduction in energy consumption, managed to achieve a greater reduction in GHG emissions compared to the countries which had not applied those measures. The Central and Eastern European countries are characterized by lower environmental taxes and lower expenditure allocated to environmental protection. The countries with a higher GDP per capita have greater GHG emissions that the countries with lower GDP per capita. This is associated with greater consumption, waste, and energy consumption. The study conducted gives rise to a discussion regarding data sufficiency in the assessment and forecasting of GHG emissions and their environmental consequences.


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