Greenhouse gas emission indicators, energy consumption efficiency, and optimal carbon emission allowance allocation of the EU countries in 2030

Abstract

The 2030 Climate Target Plan of the European Union (EU) has set a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 55%, but while carbon emissions have attracted the attention of scholars, past research has two shortcomings. Studies have focused on carbon emission allocation that occurred in the past, but seldom forecasted carbon emission allocation in the future. Moreover, most research has focused on carbon dioxide emissions with other greenhouse gases receiving less attention. To fill this gap in the literature, this research has two contributions. First, it uses the entropy method to design greenhouse gas emission indicators and to evaluate the weight of each greenhouse gas in carbon emissions. Second, this study applies data envelopment analysis to predict the optimal carbon emission allocation for the EU in 2030. This paper presents the following results. (1) Energy consumption efficiency and carbon emission efficiency for Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Sweden, and United Kingdom are the best. (2) Non-renewable energy consumption efficiency in most countries needs to be improved.