Does Non-Fossil Energy Usage Lower CO2 Emissions? Empirical Evidence from China

Deshan Li,Degang Yang

doi:10.3390/su8090874

Abstract

This paper uses an autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) to examine the dynamic impact of non-fossil energy consumption on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in China for a given level of economic growth, trade openness, and energy usage between 1965 and 2014. The results suggest that the variables are in a long-run equilibrium. ARDL estimation indicates that consumption of non-fossil energy plays a crucial role in curbing CO2 emissions in the long run but not in the short term. The results also suggest that, in both the long and short term, energy consumption and trade openness have a negative impact on the reduction of CO2 emissions, while gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increases CO2 emissions only in the short term. Finally, the Granger causality test indicates a bidirectional causality between CO2 emissions and energy consumption. In addition, this study suggests that non-fossil energy is an effective solution to mitigate CO2 emissions, providing useful information for policy-makers wishing to reduce atmospheric CO2.

Highlights

Climate change and global warming are among the most urgent environmental problems confronting modern societies, posing a growing threat to human survival and development
This paper aims to study the dynamic effects of non-fossil energy utilization on CO2 emissions within the cointegration framework
Lnt = β0 + β1lnn ft + β2lnyt + β3lnent + β4lntt + ut wheret represents CO2 emissions at time t; nft is a measure of non-fossil energy consumption; yt represents economic growth; ent represents energy consumption; tt is trade openness; and ut represents the error term

Summary

Introduction

Climate change and global warming are among the most urgent environmental problems confronting modern societies, posing a growing threat to human survival and development. Greenhouse gas emissions, mainly containing carbon dioxide (CO2), represent the principal cause of climate change. CO2 primarily results from fossil fuels combustion for energy production and transportation, producing about the 85% of global CO2 emissions. It is important to find alternative energy sources to mitigate CO2 emissions. China has overtaken the USA as the biggest consumer of energy and largest contributor of CO2 emissions, with 20% of global energy consumption and 29% of total CO2 emissions. The country relies on fossil fuels, and in particular coal whose burning releases large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, as the main energy source. There are two main solutions to increasing energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHGs) emission, and environmental pollution. The other is to improve the proportion of renewable energy and nuclear resources in the energy structure

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Results