IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/masfgc/v29y2024i8d10.1007_s11027-024-10193-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Renewable energy, energy use efficiency and carbon emission intensity: Based on the perspective of mediation effect and threshold effect

Author

Listed:
  • Shizhe Liu

    (Henan University)

  • Xiaomin Li

    (Henan University)

  • Dong Xue

    (Henan University)

Abstract

The report of the 20th National Congress points out that the focus is on controlling fossil energy consumption and promoting the formation of a green and low-carbon production and living style. This paper empirically analyses the impact of renewable energy development on carbon emission intensity based on panel data from 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in China from 2011 to 2020. It is found that: (1) Renewable energy development significantly reduces carbon emission intensity, and this result still holds after a series of robustness tests; (2) Mechanism tests show that renewable energy development can indirectly reduce carbon emission intensity by improving energy use efficiency; (3) The threshold effect indicates that the development of renewable energy has a dual threshold effect on the carbon intensity, which means that as the energy utilization efficiency continuously improves, the carbon emission reduction effect of renewable energy gradually becomes more prominent; (4) Heterogeneity analyses show that the dampening effect of renewable energy on carbon intensity is more pronounced in the midwestern regions, in the northern regions, and in regions with higher levels of government intervention and environmental regulation. The findings of this paper provide policy recommendations not only for enriching the study of carbon emission influencing factors from the perspective of renewable energy, but also for formulating renewable energy and carbon emission reduction planning, accelerating the realization of dual-carbon targets and sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Shizhe Liu & Xiaomin Li & Dong Xue, 2024. "Renewable energy, energy use efficiency and carbon emission intensity: Based on the perspective of mediation effect and threshold effect," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 29(8), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:masfgc:v:29:y:2024:i:8:d:10.1007_s11027-024-10193-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11027-024-10193-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11027-024-10193-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11027-024-10193-7?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, Xiaomin & Chen, Pu & Wang, Xingwu, 2017. "Impacts of renewables and socioeconomic factors on electric vehicle demands – Panel data studies across 14 countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 473-478.
    2. Zheng, Huanyu & Song, Malin & Shen, Zhiyang, 2021. "The evolution of renewable energy and its impact on carbon reduction in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    3. Ge Huang & Wei Pan & Cheng Hu & Wu-Lin Pan & Wan-Qiang Dai, 2021. "Energy Utilization Efficiency of China Considering Carbon Emissions—Based on Provincial Panel Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Wang, Bo & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng, 2023. "Is the digital economy conducive to the development of renewable energy in Asia?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Xi Chen & Zhigang Chen, 2021. "Can Green Finance Development Reduce Carbon Emissions? Empirical Evidence from 30 Chinese Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, November.
    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. Jin, Taeyoung, 2022. "The evolutionary renewable energy and mitigation impact in OECD countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 570-586.
    2. Fang, Guochang & Zhou, Huixin & Meng, Aoxiang & Tian, Lixin, 2024. "How to crack the impossible triangle of new energy coupled system——Evidence from China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).
    3. Ying Xie & Minglong Zhang, 2023. "Influence of Clean Energy and Financial Structure on China’s Provincial Carbon Emission Efficiency—Empirical Analysis Based on Spatial Spillover Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-25, February.
    4. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Hoang, Thi Hong Van & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Roubaud, David, 2017. "Energy consumption, financial development and economic growth in India: New evidence from a nonlinear and asymmetric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 199-212.
    5. Ning Xiang & Limao Wang & Shuai Zhong & Chen Zheng & Bo Wang & Qiushi Qu, 2021. "How Does the World View China’s Carbon Policy? A Sentiment Analysis on Twitter Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Riza Radmehr & Samira Shayanmehr & Ernest Baba Ali & Elvis Kwame Ofori & Elżbieta Jasińska & Michał Jasiński, 2022. "Exploring the Nexus of Renewable Energy, Ecological Footprint, and Economic Growth through Globalization and Human Capital in G7 Economics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, September.
    7. Łukasz Nazarko & Eigirdas Žemaitis & Łukasz Krzysztof Wróblewski & Karel Šuhajda & Magdalena Zajączkowska, 2022. "The Impact of Energy Development of the European Union Euro Area Countries on CO 2 Emissions Level," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-12, February.
    8. Manu Lahariya & Dries F. Benoit & Chris Develder, 2020. "Synthetic Data Generator for Electric Vehicle Charging Sessions: Modeling and Evaluation Using Real-World Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Jeffrey Kouton, 2021. "The impact of renewable energy consumption on inclusive growth: panel data analysis in 44 African countries," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 145-170, February.
    10. Francisco García-Lillo & Eduardo Sánchez-García & Bartolomé Marco-Lajara & Pedro Seva-Larrosa, 2023. "Renewable Energies and Sustainable Development: A Bibliometric Overview," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, January.
    11. Fernández-Amador, Octavio & Francois, Joseph F. & Oberdabernig, Doris A. & Tomberger, Patrick, 2023. "Energy footprints and the international trade network: A new dataset. Is the European Union doing it better?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    12. Llorca, Manuel & Rodriguez-Alvarez, Ana, 2024. "Economic, environmental, and energy equity convergence: Evidence of a multi-speed Europe?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    13. Tolkyn Kakizhanova & Asel Sagynbay & Shynggys Nurgazy & Gulmira Andabayeva & Galiya Dauliyeva, 2024. "Impact of Energy Consumption and Food Security on Income Inequality: NARDL Approach from Kazakhstan," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(6), pages 184-194, November.
    14. Ye, Li & Yang, Deling & Dang, Yaoguo & Wang, Junjie, 2022. "An enhanced multivariable dynamic time-delay discrete grey forecasting model for predicting China's carbon emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    15. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Hou, Fujun & Sinha, Avik, 2018. "¬¬¬¬¬¬From Nonrenewable to Renewable Energy and Its Impact on Economic Growth: Silver Line of Research & Development Expenditures in APEC Countries," MPRA Paper 90611, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Dec 2018.
    16. Zakarie Abdi Warsame & Ahmed Nur Dirie & Bile Abdisalan Nor, 2024. "Towards Environmental Sustainability: The Impact of External Debt and Government Expenditure on Carbon Emissions in Somalia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(6), pages 566-573, November.
    17. Xiao-Ying Dong & Qiying Ran & Yu Hao, 2019. "On the nonlinear relationship between energy consumption and economic development in China: new evidence from panel data threshold estimations," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 1837-1857, July.
    18. Mohammad Subhan & Aqsa Anjum & M. N. Zamir & Dervis Kirikkaleli, 2024. "Do energy, inflation, and financial development stimulate economic welfare in India? Empirical insights from novel dynamic ARDL and KRLS simulations," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1-27, August.
    19. Nurulhuda Seriram & Muhamad Rias K. V. Zainuddin & Hakimah Nur Ahmad Hamidi & Amirul Hamza Abdullah, 2024. "Impacts of Renewable Energy Transitions on the Economic Growth in Malaysia: A Dynamic ARDL Simulations," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(5), pages 251-258, September.
    20. Jiao, Jianling & Song, Jiangfeng & Ding, Tao, 2024. "The impact of synergistic development of renewable energy and digital economy on energy intensity: Evidence from 33 countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).

    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:spr:masfgc:v:29:y:2024:i:8:d:10.1007_s11027-024-10193-7. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.