Abstract
The European Union (EU) has developed important efforts in enacting various clean energy policies in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the last decades. Both supply-side and demand-side changes are required in the energy systems in the period of 2020–2030 and going towards 2050. In this context, a better understanding of the effects of these specific clean energy actions on reducing GHG emissions may be especially of interest for allowing policymakers to know the strengths and weaknesses of various climate-related power sector policies. This paper adds to the literature by presenting the effects of both supply-side and demand-side policies and empirical evidence of the impact of these policies on the reduction in carbon emissions. This analysis was done by means of a panel data set and several regression models that contribute to explaining the link between clean energy policies applied in the EU and carbon emissions over the period of 2000–2019. The results show that while supply-side policies have shown a positive and effective impact on the reduction in GHG emissions, on the demand side, more aggressive policy efforts are needed.
Highlights
The European Union (EU) has implemented different policies in order to reduce the impact of climate change in the last decades
The reduction in CO2 emissions from the energy sector has been a key issue in the European energy and climate change policies, as this sector has been the main producer of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1]
Climate policies and energy have been greatly integrated into the EU, where policies related to the use of efficient energy and the development of clean production technologies have been greatly used in the climate change framework [2]
Summary
The EU has implemented different policies in order to reduce the impact of climate change in the last decades. The reduction in CO2 emissions from the energy sector has been a key issue in the European energy and climate change policies, as this sector has been the main producer of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (more than 80%) [1]. In this context, climate policies and energy have been greatly integrated into the EU, where policies related to the use of efficient energy and the development of clean production technologies have been greatly used in the climate change framework [2]. The 2020 Climate and Energy Package [4] was approved, which set the strategies and policies related to energy and climate policies up to 2020 It was based mainly on the development of renewable energies (RES-E), complemented by measures of energy efficiency. It established the following three key targets: (i) 20% cut in GHG emissions (from 1990 levels), (ii) 20% of EU energy from renewables, and (iii) 20% improvement in energy efficiency
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