Are Renewable Energy Policies Effective? : A panel data study concerning the impact policies have on the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions through renewable energy production

• Main Author: Lanfelt, Katrine
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Nationalekonomiska institutionen 2021
• Subjects: Climate change; renewable energy; environmental policy; STIRPAT; CO2 emissions; OECD; Economics; Nationalekonomi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-450801

Climate change has been a topic of interest both in politics and academics during the last decades and it is only becoming more prominent. The relationship between energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions is of particular interest both in politics and in the world of business. With help from the STIRPAT model this paper examines the elasticity between energy production from renewable sources and carbon dioxide emissions and how it changes when introducing policies for increasing the use of renewable energy. Investigating OECD countries between 2007 and 2015, the paper hopes to add to the existing research of environmental policies on an international level by primarily focusing on the 2009/28/EC policy concerning the European Union and comparing it to some national strategies. Through IV-regressions based on the STIRPAT model this paper examines whether policies regarding renewable energy production increase the effect that renewable energy have on reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The results display a positive change in the elasticity between renewable energy and carbon dioxide emissions when introducing the 2009/28/EC policy as an instrumental variable but is unable to identify significant change when using national policies.