IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i11p2619-d1404532.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Renewable Energy Matter for Economic Growth and Happiness?

Author

Listed:
  • Aleksandra Ostrowska

    (Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Kamil Kotliński

    (Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland)

  • Łukasz Markowski

    (Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether renewable energy influences economic growth and happiness. Using panel data from 25 European Union countries for the period 2012–2022, this study employs a panel model for estimation with fixed and random effects, and robust HAC standard errors. According to the research results, in general, the growing share of renewable energy in the energy mix has a positive impact on economic growth and the happiness of citizens. However, detailed research has shown that this effect depends on the type of energy; a significant positive impact was recorded only in solar share energy, wind share energy and economic growth. However, almost all types of renewable energy were included, i.e., biofuel, hydro, solar and other renewable share energy, and all had a significantly positive impact on the level of happiness. The exception was wind share energy, which showed a significant negative impact. The research findings of this paper provide empirical support for promoting renewable energy, which is positive both for economies and the happiness of citizens. It is one of the main aspects of sustainable economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Aleksandra Ostrowska & Kamil Kotliński & Łukasz Markowski, 2024. "Does Renewable Energy Matter for Economic Growth and Happiness?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-17, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:11:p:2619-:d:1404532
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/11/2619/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/11/2619/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Raghutla, Chandrashekar & Chittedi, Krishna Reddy & Jiao, Zhilun & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2020. "The effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth: Evidence from the renewable energy country attractive index," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    2. Stamatios Ntanos & Michalis Skordoulis & Grigorios Kyriakopoulos & Garyfallos Arabatzis & Miltiadis Chalikias & Spyros Galatsidas & Athanasios Batzios & Apostolia Katsarou, 2018. "Renewable Energy and Economic Growth: Evidence from European Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-13, July.
    3. András Szeberényi & Tomasz Rokicki & Árpád Papp-Váry, 2022. "Examining the Relationship between Renewable Energy and Environmental Awareness," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-25, September.
    4. Omri, Anis & Omri, Henda & Slimani, Sana & Belaid, Fateh, 2022. "Environmental degradation and life satisfaction: Do governance and renewable energy matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    5. Bhattacharya, Mita & Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy & Ozturk, Ilhan & Bhattacharya, Sankar, 2016. "The effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth: Evidence from top 38 countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 733-741.
    6. Daniel Ştefan Armeanu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2017. "Does Renewable Energy Drive Sustainable Economic Growth? Multivariate Panel Data Evidence for EU-28 Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    7. Inglesi-Lotz, Roula, 2016. "The impact of renewable energy consumption to economic growth: A panel data application," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 58-63.
    8. Marcin Łuszczyk & Krzysztof Malik & Barbara Siuta-Tokarska & Agnieszka Thier, 2023. "Direction of Changes in the Settlements for Prosumers of Photovoltaic Micro-Installations: The Example of Poland as the Economy in Transition in the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-16, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Filimonova Irina Viktorovna & Nemov Vasily Yurievich & Provornaya Irina Viktorovna & Ozhogova Lyubov Mikhailovna, 2021. "Impact of Renewable Energy Sources Consumption on Economic Growth in Europe and Asia-Pacific Region," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(6), pages 270-278.
    2. Iwona Bąk & Emilia Barej-Kaczmarek & Maciej Oesterreich & Beata Szczecińska & Katarzyna Wawrzyniak & Piotr Sulikowski, 2024. "The Impact of the Production and Consumption of Renewable Energy on Economic Growth—The Case of Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-27, December.
    3. Namahoro, J.P. & Nzabanita, J. & Wu, Q., 2021. "The impact of total and renewable energy consumption on economic growth in lower and middle- and upper-middle-income groups: Evidence from CS-DL and CCEMG analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    4. Mihaela Simionescu & Yuriy Bilan & Emília Krajňáková & Dalia Streimikiene & Stanisław Gędek, 2019. "Renewable Energy in the Electricity Sector and GDP per Capita in the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Błażej Suproń & Janusz Myszczyszyn, 2023. "Impact of Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Consumption and CO 2 Emissions on Economic Growth in the Visegrad Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Farzan Yahya & Muhammad Rafiq, 2020. "Brownfield, greenfield, and renewable energy consumption: Moderating role of effective governance," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(3), pages 405-423, May.
    7. Vural, Gulfer, 2020. "Renewable and non-renewable energy-growth nexus: A panel data application for the selected Sub-Saharan African countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Chang, Chiu-Lan & Fang, Ming, 2022. "Renewable energy-led growth hypothesis: New insights from BRICS and N-11 economies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 788-800.
    9. Shoeib Faraji Abdolmaleki & Danial Esfandiary Abdolmaleki & Pastora M. Bello Bugallo, 2023. "Finding Sustainable Countries in Renewable Energy Sector: A Case Study for an EU Energy System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, June.
    10. Boubaker, Sabri & Omri, Anis, 2022. "How does renewable energy contribute to the growth versus environment debate?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Halicioglu, Ferda & Ketenci, Natalya, 2018. "Output, renewable and non-renewable energy production, and international trade: Evidence from EU-15 countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 995-1002.
    12. Zhen Zeng & Xianzhong Mu, 2024. "Can the Development of Renewable Energy Improve Total-Factor Carbon Emissions Efficiency? Evidence from 30 Provinces in China," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16.
    13. Wahyu Pratomo & Aam Rusydiana & Ririn Riani & Rukiah Lubis & Lina Marlina & Purnama Putra & Nurismalatri Nurismalatri, 2023. "Does Renewable Energy Consumption a Driver for Economic Growth? Panel Data Analysis in Selected OIC Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(6), pages 573-580, November.
    14. Nadia Singh & Richard Nyuur & Ben Richmond, 2019. "Renewable Energy Development as a Driver of Economic Growth: Evidence from Multivariate Panel Data Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-18, April.
    15. Nguyen Ngoc Thach, 2024. "Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling of Individual Effects: Renewables and Non-Renewables on Global Economic Growth," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, August.
    16. Gokhan Karhan, 2019. "Does Renewable Energy Increase Growth? Evidence from EU-19 Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(2), pages 341-346.
    17. Mihaela Simionescu & Carmen Beatrice Păuna & Tiberiu Diaconescu, 2020. "Renewable Energy and Economic Performance in the Context of the European Green Deal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-19, December.
    18. Danial Esfandiary Abdolmaleki & Shoeib Faraji Abdolmaleki & Pastora M. Bello Bugallo, 2023. "Evaluating Renewable Energy and Ranking 17 Autonomous Communities in Spain: A TOPSIS Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-12, August.
    19. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Raghutla, Chandrashekar & Chittedi, Krishna Reddy & Jiao, Zhilun & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2020. "The effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth: Evidence from the renewable energy country attractive index," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    20. Marius-Corneliu Marinaș & Marin Dinu & Aura-Gabriela Socol & Cristian Socol, 2018. "Renewable energy consumption and economic growth. Causality relationship in Central and Eastern European countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-29, October.

    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:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:11:p:2619-:d:1404532. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.