IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v112y2022ics0140988322003334.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can renewable energy investment reduce carbon dioxide emissions? Evidence from scale and structure

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Zikun
  • Zhang, Mingming
  • Liu, Liyun
  • Zhou, Dequn

Abstract

Many countries have invested a lot in renewable energy to reach “carbon neutrality”. However, whether renewable energy investment effectively reduces carbon dioxide emissions still needs to be verified systematically. This paper examines the impact of renewable energy investment on carbon dioxide emissions by considering both scale and structure. It uses data from 13 countries that have made large investments in renewable energy from 2010 to 2019. A parallel multiple mediator model is used to analyze the impact of renewable energy investment scale on carbon dioxide emissions, in which multiplier effect, technique effect, and structure effect are identified as mediation effects. A chain multiple mediator model and a parallel multiple mediator model are integrated to identify the effect of renewable energy investment structure on carbon dioxide emissions, in which allocation effect is also considered. It concludes that, on the whole, increasing renewable energy investment scale can increase carbon dioxide emissions. Specifically, increasing renewable energy investment scale can indirectly reduce carbon dioxide emissions through the technique effect and increase carbon dioxide emissions through the multiplier effect. However, the structure effect on carbon dioxide emissions caused by renewable energy investment scale is not significant. Moreover, increasing the proportional investment in wind energy can reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, increasing the proportional investment in solar energy and bioenergy can increase carbon dioxide emissions. This paper also finds that increasing the proportional investment in renewable hydropower does not significantly affect carbon dioxide emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Zikun & Zhang, Mingming & Liu, Liyun & Zhou, Dequn, 2022. "Can renewable energy investment reduce carbon dioxide emissions? Evidence from scale and structure," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:112:y:2022:i:c:s0140988322003334
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988322003334
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.106181?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Jinying & Li, Sisi, 2020. "Energy investment, economic growth and carbon emissions in China—Empirical analysis based on spatial Durbin model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    2. Lin, Boqiang & Zhu, Junpeng, 2019. "Fiscal spending and green economic growth: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 264-271.
    3. Elliott, Robert J.R. & Sun, Puyang & Chen, Siyang, 2013. "Energy intensity and foreign direct investment: A Chinese city-level study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 484-494.
    4. Bernstein, Paul M. & Montgomery, W. David & Tuladhar, Sugandha D., 2006. "Potential for reducing carbon emissions from non-Annex B countries through changes in technology," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(5-6), pages 742-762, November.
    5. Mahesh, A. & Shoba Jasmin, K.S., 2013. "Role of renewable energy investment in India: An alternative to CO2 mitigation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 414-424.
    6. Chen, Hong & Wang, Xi & Singh, Baljeet, 2018. "Can private domestic investment lead Chinese technological progress?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 186-193.
    7. Yu, Shiwei & Zheng, Shuhong & Li, Xia, 2018. "The achievement of the carbon emissions peak in China: The role of energy consumption structure optimization," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 693-707.
    8. David Roodman, 2009. "A Note on the Theme of Too Many Instruments," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 71(1), pages 135-158, February.
    9. Yue‐Jun Zhang & Wei Shi & Lin Jiang, 2020. "Does China's carbon emissions trading policy improve the technology innovation of relevant enterprises?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 872-885, March.
    10. Tiba, Sofien & Belaid, Fateh, 2020. "The pollution concern in the era of globalization: Do the contribution of foreign direct investment and trade openness matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    11. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    12. Zhang, Dayong & Cao, Hong & Zou, Peijiang, 2016. "Exuberance in China's renewable energy investment: Rationality, capital structure and implications with firm level evidence," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 468-478.
    13. Tu, Qiang & Mo, Jianlei & Liu, Zhuoran & Gong, Chunxu & Fan, Ying, 2021. "Using green finance to counteract the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic on renewable energy investment-The case of offshore wind power in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Alam, Md. Samsul & Atif, Muhammad & Chien-Chi, Chu & Soytaş, Uğur, 2019. "Does corporate R&D investment affect firm environmental performance? Evidence from G-6 countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 401-411.
    15. Lau, Lin-Sea & Choong, Chee-Keong & Eng, Yoke-Kee, 2014. "Investigation of the environmental Kuznets curve for carbon emissions in Malaysia: Do foreign direct investment and trade matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 490-497.
    16. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    17. Gibon, Thomas & Arvesen, Anders & Hertwich, Edgar G., 2017. "Life cycle assessment demonstrates environmental co-benefits and trade-offs of low-carbon electricity supply options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1283-1290.
    18. Di Yin and Youngho Chang, 2020. "Energy R&D Investments and Emissions Abatement Policy," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 6), pages 133-156.
    19. Shu-Chen Chang & Meng-Hua Li, 2019. "Impacts of Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Development on Carbon Dioxide Emissions Across Different Population Regimes," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 72(2), pages 583-607, February.
    20. Tu, Qiang & Mo, Jianlei & Betz, Regina & Cui, Lianbiao & Fan, Ying & Liu, Yu, 2020. "Achieving grid parity of solar PV power in China- The role of Tradable Green Certificate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    21. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    22. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Raghutla, Chandrashekar & Song, Malin & Zameer, Hashim & Jiao, Zhilun, 2020. "Public-private partnerships investment in energy as new determinant of CO2 emissions: The role of technological innovations in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    23. Wang, Wei & Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2022. "Does China's carbon emissions trading scheme affect the market power of high-carbon enterprises?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    24. Zhang, Jiaping & Cheng, Mingwang & Yu, Ning, 2020. "Internet Use and Lower Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Effect of Environmental Quality Perception," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    25. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Cheng, Hao-Sen, 2021. "The impact mechanism of the ETS on CO2 emissions from the service sector: Evidence from Beijing and Shanghai," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    26. Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng & Ren, Xiaohang, 2020. "Can expanding natural gas infrastructure mitigate CO2 emissions? Analysis of heterogeneous and mediation effects for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    27. Li, Wei & Sun, Wen & Li, Guomin & Jin, Baihui & Wu, Wen & Cui, Pengfei & Zhao, Guohao, 2018. "Transmission mechanism between energy prices and carbon emissions using geographically weighted regression," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 434-442.
    28. Samouilidis, J-Emmanuel & Mitropoulos, Costas S., 1983. "Energy investment and economic growth : A simplified approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 237-246, October.
    29. Lee, Jung Wan, 2013. "The contribution of foreign direct investment to clean energy use, carbon emissions and economic growth," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 483-489.
    30. Dai, Juchuan & Yang, Xin & Wen, Li, 2018. "Development of wind power industry in China: A comprehensive assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 156-164.
    31. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Wang, Wei, 2021. "How does China's carbon emissions trading (CET) policy affect the investment of CET-covered enterprises?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    32. Windmeijer, Frank, 2005. "A finite sample correction for the variance of linear efficient two-step GMM estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 25-51, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chai, Shanglei & Zhang, Xichun & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul & Chen, Huizheng & Lucey, Brian & Hajek, Petr, 2023. "An optimized GRT model with blockchain digital smart contracts for power generation enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    2. Zhu, Ruikun & Xu, Qi & Xiqiang, Xia & Sibt-e-Ali, Muhammad & Waqas, Muhammad & Ullah, Irfan & Anwar, Ahsan, 2024. "Role of resources rent, research and development, and information and communication technologies on CO2 emissions in BRICS economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Faik Bilgili & Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente & Sevda Kuşkaya & Mohammed Alnour & Seyit Önderol & Mohammad Enamul Hoque, 2024. "Are research and development on energy efficiency and energy sources effective in the level of CO2 emissions? Fresh evidence from EU data," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(9), pages 24183-24219, September.
    4. Yuan, Shengyun & Li, Changhao & Wang, Mingyang & Wu, Hao & Chang, Lei, 2023. "A way toward green economic growth: Role of energy efficiency and fiscal incentive in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 599-609.
    5. Justice Gyimah & Ujunwa Angela Nwigwe & Erica Odwira Opoku & Xilong Yao, 2023. "Promoting environmental sustainability in Africa: the position of globalization, renewable energy, and economic growth," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(8), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Obobisa, Emma Serwaa & Ahakwa, Isaac, 2024. "Stimulating the adoption of green technology innovation, clean energy resources, green finance, and environmental taxes: The way to achieve net zero CO2 emissions in Europe?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    7. Rydehell, Hanna & Lantz, Björn & Mignon, Ingrid & Lindahl, Johan, 2024. "The impact of solar PV subsidies on investment over time - the case of Sweden," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    8. Lin, Boqiang & Zhang, Aoxiang, 2023. "Government subsidies, market competition and the TFP of new energy enterprises," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    9. Perdichizzi, Salvatore & Buchetti, Bruno & Cicchiello, Antonella Francesca & Dal Maso, Lorenzo, 2024. "Carbon emission and firms’ value: Evidence from Europe," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    10. Elvis K. Ofori & Simplice A. Asongu & Ernest B. Ali & Bright A. Gyamfi & Isaac Ahakwa, 2024. "Environmental impact of ISO 14001 certification in promoting Sustainable development: The moderating role of innovation and structural change in BRICS and MINT, and G7 economies," Working Papers 24/014, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    11. Fahad Saleh Al-Ismail & Md Shafiul Alam & Md Shafiullah & Md Ismail Hossain & Syed Masiur Rahman, 2023. "Impacts of Renewable Energy Generation on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Saudi Arabia: A Comprehensive Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, March.
    12. Li, Xuelian & Wu, Guanyang & Lin, Jyh-Horng, 2023. "Enhancing borrowing-firm equity through renewable energy adoption, consumer green awareness, and insurer sustainable finance," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    13. He, Junming & Iqbal, Wasim & Su, Fangli, 2023. "Nexus between renewable energy investment, green finance, and sustainable development: Role of industrial structure and technical innovations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 715-724.
    14. Wang, Lin & Dilanchiev, Azer & Haseeb, Mohammad, 2022. "The environmental regulation and policy assessment effect on the road to green recovery transformation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 914-929.
    15. Tang, Xinmeng & Zhou, Xiaoguang, 2023. "Impact of green finance on renewable energy development: A spatiotemporal consistency perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 320-337.
    16. Zhao, Qiuyun & Jiang, Mei & Zhao, Zuoxiang & Liu, Fan & Zhou, Li, 2024. "The impact of green innovation on carbon reduction efficiency in China: Evidence from machine learning validation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    17. Shu, Yunxia & Deng, Nanxin & Wu, Yuming & Bao, Shuming & Bie, Ao, 2023. "Urban governance and sustainable development: The effect of smart city on carbon emission in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    18. Xu, Yingying & Shao, Xuefeng & Tanasescu, Cristina, 2024. "How are artificial intelligence, carbon market, and energy sector connected? A systematic analysis of time-frequency spillovers," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    19. Zhao, Dong & Sibt e-Ali, Muhammad & Omer Chaudhry, Muhammad & Ayub, Bakhtawer & Waqas, Muhammad & Ullah, Irfan, 2024. "Modeling the Nexus between geopolitical risk, oil price volatility and renewable energy investment; evidence from Chinese listed firms," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    20. Tinglei Hao & Jiajie Ren & Chuanming Sun & Lu Chen & Tao Liu, 2024. "Cultural Industry Agglomeration and Carbon Emission Performance: Empirical Analysis Based on 276 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-20, October.
    21. Huijuan Fu & Bo Li & Xiuqing Liu & Jiayi Zheng & Shanggang Yin & Haining Jiang, 2023. "Spatio-Temporal Coupling Evolution of Urbanisation and Carbon Emission in the Yangtze River Economic Belt," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-19, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sung, Bongsuk & Song, Woo-Yong & Park, Sang-Do, 2018. "How foreign direct investment affects CO2 emission levels in the Chinese manufacturing industry: Evidence from panel data," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 320-331.
    2. Berk, Istemi & Kasman, Adnan & Kılınç, Dilara, 2020. "Towards a common renewable future: The System-GMM approach to assess the convergence in renewable energy consumption of EU countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    3. Cristiana Tudor, 2022. "The Nexus between Pollution and Obesity and the Magnifying Role of Media Consumption: International Evidence from GMM Systems Estimates," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Zheng, Xinye & Li, Fanghua & Song, Shunfeng & Yu, Yihua, 2013. "Central government's infrastructure investment across Chinese regions: A dynamic spatial panel data approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 264-276.
    5. Piccoli, Luca & Tiezzi, Silvia, 2021. "Rational addiction and time-consistency: An empirical test," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Tadadjeu, Sosson & Njangang, Henri & Asongu, Simplice A. & Kamguia, Brice, 2023. "Natural resources, child mortality and governance quality in African countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Ng, Joe Cho Yiu & Leung, Charles Ka Yui & Chan, Suikang, 2022. "Corporate Real Estate Holding and Stock Returns: International Evidence from Listed Companies," MPRA Paper 111691, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Jing Li & Tsun Se Cheong & Jianfa Shen & Dahai Fu, 2019. "Urbanization And Rural–Urban Consumption Disparity: Evidence From China," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(04), pages 983-996, September.
    9. Potrafke, Niklas, 2013. "Globalization and labor market institutions: International empirical evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 829-842.
    10. DELL'ANNO, Roberto & VILLA, Stefania, 2012. "Growth in Transition Countries: Big Bang versus Gradualism," CELPE Discussion Papers 122, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    11. Claire Giordano, 2023. "Revisiting the real exchange rate misalignment‐economic growth nexus via the across‐sector misallocation channel," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1329-1384, September.
    12. Lamar Crombach & Frank Bohn, 2024. "Uninformed voters with (im)precise expectations: Explaining political budget cycle puzzles," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 275-311, March.
    13. Abdilahi Ali & Katsushi S. Imai, 2015. "Editor's choice Crises, Economic Integration and Growth Collapses in African Countries," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 24(4), pages 471-501.
    14. Marrero,Gustavo Alberto & Rodríguez,Juan Gabriel & Van Der Weide,Roy, 2021. "Does Race and Gender Inequality Impact Income Growth ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9865, The World Bank.
    15. Njangang, Henri & Asongu, Simplice A. & Tadadjeu, Sosson & Nounamo, Yann & Kamguia, Brice, 2022. "Governance in mitigating the effect of oil wealth on wealth inequality: A cross-country analysis of policy thresholds," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    16. Emna Trabelsi, 2022. "Macroprudential Transparency and Price Stability in Emerging and Developing Countries," Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, Central bank of Montenegro, vol. 11(1), pages 105-129.
    17. Kanga, Désiré & Murinde, Victor & Soumaré, Issouf, 2020. "Capital, risk and profitability of WAEMU banks: Does bank ownership matter?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    18. W.N.W Azman‐Saini & Peter Smith, 2011. "Finance And Growth: New Evidence On The Role Of Insurance," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 79(2), pages 111-127, June.
    19. Scott, K. Rebecca, 2015. "Demand and price uncertainty: Rational habits in international gasoline demand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 40-49.
    20. Sauquet, Alexandre & Lecocq, Franck & Delacote, Philippe & Caurla, Sylvain & Barkaoui, Ahmed & Garcia, Serge, 2011. "Estimating Armington elasticities for sawnwood and application to the French Forest Sector Model," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 771-781.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:112:y:2022:i:c:s0140988322003334. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.