Toward a sustainable economic development in the EU member states: The role of energy efficiency‐intensity and renewable energy

Abstract

While aiming to reach its 20% energy efficiency target for 2020 and subsequently reaching at least 32.5% by 2030, the European Union (EU) countries are consistently encouraged to implement the bloc's energy efficiency directives of 2012/27/EU and the (EU) 2018/2002. Without sacrificing existing energy standards and environmental quality, the EU has consistently favored behavioral and economic changes that are capable of increasing energy efficiency. In view of this motivation, this study examines the impact of energy efficiency on economic growth in 21 EU member countries over the 1995-2016 period. Importantly, the study examined both the regional and country-specific impacts of energy intensity, energy dependency, and renewable energy utilization on economic expansion. With a respective elasticity of 0.94, 0.17, and 0.01 by the MG (Mean Group) estimator, we found that energy efficiency, renewable energy utilization, and energy dependency positively trigger economic expansion in the region. This result does not only provide a desirable economic

Energy intensity among European Union countries: the role of renewable energy, income and trade

“…Some researchers have thus investigated energy issues from different angles. Studies for European countries have looked at issues including the effect of energy on economic growth (Pehlivanoglu et al , 2021; Can and Korkmaz, 2019), the effect of energy on environmental degradation (Gyamfi et al , 2021), determinants of renewable energy development (Bednarczyk et al , 2021; Serowaniec, 2021), renewable energy and economic growth (Can and Korkmaz, 2019) and determinants of energy consumption (Sardianou, 2007; Bass, 2018). While the above studies are helpful toward the attainment of a cleaner environment, studies to unravel the drivers of energy intensity are now gaining attention in the region and elsewhere compared to the other areas of research.…”

“…In this light, energy intensity has been used as a proxy for the level of energy efficiency (Adom, 2015a). There have been talks to enhance efforts geared toward the attainment of lower energy intensity as it guarantees energy security, increases profits of firms, increases productivity, employment and reduces pollution of substances that are detrimental to health and also promotes environmental quality (Kwakwa, 2019; Pehlivanoglu et al , 2021).…”

Genetic algorithm optimization of a horizontal axis wind turbine blade section performance equipped with a single dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator utilizing a direct regression model

“…An extensive investigation was performed using 512 numerical simulations to study SDBD-PA influence on separation control over an airfoil belonging to a 660-kW HAWT blade. Given the importance of renewable energy utilization and its impact on economic expansion, 39 a direct regression model was proposed to directly calculate the aerodynamic performance and make the SOGA optimization process fully automated. Such a direct linkage boosts the energy efficiency estimations.…”

Solar Farms as the Only Power Source for the Entire Country

“…In 2019, the European Commission published a communication on the European Green Deal, i.e., a strategy whose ambitious goal is to achieve climate neutrality by the EU by 2050. Poland has supported this goal and made great strides in reducing the environmental impact of the energy sector over the last several years, in particular, by modernizing generation capacity and diversifying the energy generation structure [10][11][12][13][14]. Our dependence on carbon fuels is still much higher than that of other European countries, as shown in Figures 2 and 3 The share of coal alone in the energy balance is 78%, and most of it is mined domestically, whereas, in other EU countries, imports dominate, as shown in Figure 4.…”