Renewable energy output, energy efficiency and cleaner energy: Evidence from non-parametric approach for emerging seven economies

Abstract

In the contemporary era, environmental recovery is the primary objective of emerging and industrialized economies, where scholars and policy-makers propose adopting environmentally friendly energy resources such as renewables. Still, economies are paying less attention towards renewable energy consumption. In this sense, the current study aims to investigate the factors influencing renewable energy consumption in the emerging seven economies throughout 1990–2021. Specifically, this study explores the influence of renewable energy (electricity) output and energy efficiency on renewable energy consumption. Economic growth, carbon emissions, and technological innovation are control variables. Using various panel data approaches, the results verified slope coefficient heterogeneity, cross-section dependence, and the existence of the long-run cointegration relationship. Following the asymmetric distribution of data, this study uses novel method of moments quantile regression. The estimated results asserted that renewable energy output, energy efficiency, economic growth, and carbon emissions are the significant factors of renewable energy consumption. However, technological innovation substantially reduces renewable energy consumption. The robustness of the results is validated by bootstrap quantile regression, while the [1] panel Granger causality test confirms the two-way causal nexus between renewable energy consumption and the listed variables. Further, this study suggests increased investment in renewable energy output, the energy efficiency sector, and environmentally related technological innovation to encourage renewable energy consumption.