Drivers of greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector of Bangladesh

Abstract

The electricity sector is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in Bangladesh, and the country has the target to reduce these emissions and follow an environmentally sustainable development strategy. In this study, we explore how population growth, affluence and energy technology factors affect the emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from the electricity sector in Bangladesh. This study employs an extended stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology model, using ridge regression for the analysis, covering a period from 1995 to 2014. The study also examines the presence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) with respect to greenhouse gas emissions. We find that the chief drivers of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions are population, affluence, urbanization and the carbon intensity of fuels. Energy intensity affects carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Transmission losses do not have a significant positive influence on emissions of any of the gases except carbon dioxide. Our results also show that there is no evidence of the EKC with respect to greenhouse gases in the electricity sector. Our study suggests that Bangladesh should have policies promoting a cleaner energy mix, reduce the use of fossil fuels, and increase energy efficiency technologies to counter the polluting effects of a growing power sector.