Sustainability of energy transition on output growth and carbon emission abatement in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This study examined the effects of renewable energy use on the output growth convergence, as well as the impacts of renewable energy use for an alternative to carbon emission (CO2) abatement in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The dual purpose followed the Solow growth model for output and the expanded Stokey pollution model for CO2 abatement, respectively. An error correction model was used to determine output convergence while a stepwise regression model was applied to ascertain the impacts of renewable energy use on CO2 abatement. The aggregated data on carbon emission intensity, output growth, per capita emission, and population growth were collected from World Bank development indicators for the period of 1990Q1 to 2017Q4 on SSA. Empirical evidence from the study reveals that output converges in SSA at 22% adjustment speed and it is largely accounted for by renewable energy use. The abatement of CO2 using renewable energy is not significant for adoption as the solution to carbon emission mitigation in SSA. The ratio of CO2 to renewable energy use shows a wide gap range of 3.12% to 1%. Therefore, the study recommends intensive pro-renewable energy use policies to close the gap and further redress the significance of renewable energy use as a sustainable alternative to the carbon abatement policy instrument. Furthermore, the sustainability of renewable energy use for a speedy economic growth and carbon emission reduction may not be significant with the current findings on renewable energy use in SSA.