Relationships between Renewable Energy Consumption, Social Factors, and Health: A Panel Vector Auto Regression Analysis of a Cluster of 12 EU Countries

Abstract

One of the key indicators of a population's well-being and the economic development of a country is represented by health, the main proxy for which is life expectancy at birth. Some factors, such as industrialization and modernization, have allowed this to improve considerably. On the other hand, along with high global population growth, the factor which may jeopardize human health the most is environmental degradation, which can be tackled through the transition to renewable energy. The main purpose of our study is to investigate the relationship between renewable energy consumption, social factors, and health, using a Panel Vector Auto Regression (PVAR) technique. We explore the link between some proxy variables for renewable energy consumption, government policy, general public awareness, the market, lobbying activity, the energy dependence on third countries, and health, spanning the period from 1990 to 2015, for a cluster of 12 European countries characterized by common features. Specifically, our analysis shows the importance of having a stringent policy for the development of renewable energy consumption and its influence over other social factors, rather than the existence of causal relationships between health and renewable energy consumption for the analyzed countries. This kind of analysis has a great potential for policy-makers. Further, a deeper understanding of these relationships can create a more effective decision-making process. Sustainability 2020, 12, 2915 2 of 16Concerning the latter, the increasing interest in renewable energy is also due to Europe's dependency on foreign energy sources and to the recent concerns over the volatility of the price of crude oil [8].Moreover, we are currently witnessing an ongoing debate over how to balance the relationships between human health, environmental concerns, and economic development [12][13][14].In this regard, in December 2019 the European Commission presented the European Green Deal, which establishes that the European Union needs to transform itself into a resource-efficient and competitive economy with zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, and its economic growth should detach itself from resources use. The main objective is to boost the efficient use of resources by moving to a clean, circular economy, and, consequently, stopping climate change, cutting pollution, and improving the health of population [12].Moreover, European Union member countries launched, at the beginning of 2005, the CO 2 emissions trading scheme. Setting environmental taxes is very useful for two reasons. First, they represent an incentive for companies to research and invest in more environmentally friendly technologies, or to deploy fewer resources. Secondly, the increased fiscal revenue resulting from higher tax collection can be used to reduce taxes on labor, savings, and capital, thereby favoring higher investment in environmental conservation [13].Health, the main proxy for which is life expectancy at birth, certainly represents one of the key indicators of ...

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