Measuring the Renewable Energy Efficiency at the European Union Level and Its Impact on CO2 Emissions

Mihail Busu

doi:10.3390/pr7120923

Abstract

Low carbon emissions have a great importance in our life. The increasing importance of carbon emission levels have attracted the interests of researchers and academics in the field. In this article, a panel data econometric model is developed to measure the relationship between renewable energy, energy productivity, population, urbanization, motorization, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and their impacts on carbon dioxide CO2 emissions. Data used in this study was collected from the European Statistical Office (EUROSTAT) and five statistical hypotheses were tested and validated through a multilinear regression model using the Econometric Views (Eviews) 10.0 statistical software. The Hausman test was used to choose between a model with fixed effects and a model with random effects, and the variance inflection factor (VIF) was used to test the collinearity between the independent variables. The author’s findings indicate that renewable energy at the European Union (EU) level has a positive impact on low-carbon emissions. It was found that a 1% increase in renewable energy consumption would reduce the CO2 emissions by 0.11 million tons, while population growth and urbanization degree add more restrictions to the econometric equation of the impact on carbon emissions.

Highlights

The country members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)agreed to intensify the actions against global warming and combat climate change through an accord to lower the carbon emissions
The results of the study confirm the hypothesis of the research, according to which the energy productivity has a strong and significant impact on CO2 emissions, which are in line with the European
The novelty of this paper comes from the regression analysis of the 28 European Union countries using a panel data approach, through which the Renewable energy sources (RES) efficiency and its impact on CO2 emissions at the European Union level were analyzed

Summary

Introduction

The country members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)agreed to intensify the actions against global warming and combat climate change through an accord to lower the carbon emissions. The country members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Paris Agreement states that each member state should intensify its energy in order to reduce gas emissions, which should provide direct social and economic benefits. The use of renewable energy generates concerns for central and local governments as well as for researchers to find the optimal solution for fighting against climate change. To achieve a low-carbon environment, the Paris Agreement must be signed and implemented by as many countries as possible. The main problem in the real world is how to reduce carbon emissions, and one of the possible solutions is increasing the use of renewable energy. The is main issue in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is universal access to sustainable, reliable, affordable, and renewable energy [2]

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