The Role of Renewables in a Low-Carbon Society: Evidence from a Multivariate Panel Data Analysis at the EU Level

Abstract

Low carbon emission has a major positive impact on our society. Due to the importance of reducing carbon emission levels, factors that contribute significantly towards reducing carbon emission levels have attracted the interest of academics and researchers in the field. In this paper, the author develops a multiple linear regression analysis to examine the relationship between renewable energy consumption, biofuel production, resources productivity, bioenergy productivity, the level of urbanization and population and their impact on total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Data was collected from the European Statistical Office (EUROSTAT) and four statistical hypotheses were validated through a regression model with panel data using the statistical software EViews 11. The study was conducted for 27 European Union (EU) countries during 2008 to 2017. The author’s findings indicate that renewables have a direct and positive influence on the levels of CO2 emissions, as opposed to population growth and urbanization. These findings suggest that public policy should be directed towards increasing the use of renewables in EU countries, while the level of urbanization and the population growth add more restrictions in the modelling equation of the impact on CO2 emissions.