Essays On The Economic Drivers Of CO₂ Emissions And Renewable Energy Transition

This thesis comprises six self-contained essays and deals with two distinct research topics-CO2 emissions and consumption of renewable energy-as they relate to climate change mitigation.In addition to Chapter 1 which is the introduction,each essay represents one chapter of the thesis and addresses a specific research question.The first three essays look at the influencing factors of CO2 emissions while the remaining three essays focus on the drivers of renewable energy transition as a solution to rising CO2 emissions and climate change.The first essay(Chapter 2)analyses the impact of industrialisation on CO2 emissions in Nigeria.The essay eMplOys the Kaya Identity eMpirical framework and uses tiMe series analysis techniques.The results show that industrialisation has a negative relationship with CO2 emissions in Nigeria,undermining the notion that industrial structural transformation is harmful to the environment.Building on the first essay,the second essay(Chapter 3)investigates the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve(EKC)hypothesis in five African countries by investigating the non-linear relationship between economic development and CO2 emissions.This essay further disaggregates economic development into industrial and agricultural economic development The STIRPAT empircal model and panel cointegration methods are adopted.The results show that the EKC hypothesis is not valid in Africa,regardless of whether economic development is driven by agriculture or industrialisation.The third essay(Chapter 4)further focuses on CO2 emissions from the transport sector.It studies the impact of urbanisation on transport CO2 emissions in Asia and the mitigating role of private sector investment in the transport sector.Using the same method as Chapter 3,the results show that the impact of urbanisation on transport CO2 emissions depends on other factors.There is also evidence that private sector investment in the transport sector and the development of rail transport infrastructure have reduction effects on transport CO2 emissions.In addition,the analysis shows that for two Asian countries with the same level of urbanisation,transport CO2 emissions will be lower in the country with higher private sector investment in the transport sector and rail infrastructure.The fourth essay(Chapter 5)studies the factors influencing the share of renewable energy,particularly electricity in China.Using time series analysis and vector error correction model,the results show that financial and economic development promote renewable energy use in China while trade openness,foreign direct investment and the "lobby effect" of the fossil fuel industry undermine it.The fifth essay(Chapter 6)builds on the previous one and investigates the determinants of renewable energy use in forty-six countries,focusing specifically on the share of non-hydro renewable electricity in total electricity consumption.Using panel cointegration methods,the results show that economic factors have different impacts on the size and share of non-hydro renewable electricity consumption,and these impacts are mostly in the long run.Increase in oil price and financial development play significant role in enhancing both the size and share of non-hydro renewable electricity.Trade openness has a significant positive impact on the share of non-hydro renewable electricity generation.Economic development has a positive effect on the size of non-hydro renewables but a negative impact on its share in total electricity consumption.Foreign direct investments,ratification of the Kyoto protocol,gross fixed capital formation and resource rent do not have impact on non-hydro renewable electricity consumption.The last essay(Chapter 7)examines the impact of the protection of intellectual property rights on renewable energy consumption.The Ginarte-Park index is used as an indicator of the strength of intellectual property right protection while the share of renewable energy in total final energy use is used to indicate renewable energy consuimption.The results show that the level and reform of intellectual property rights do not have significant impact on renewable energy use.Overall,the study shows that the drivers of CO2 emissions and renewable energy transition may differ from country to country.Hence,country-specific policies,rather than a generalised approach,should be adopted to achieve climate change mitigation.