Towards sustainable development in the European Union countries: Does economic complexity affect renewable and non‐renewable energy consumption?

Abstract

Energy insecurity and unsustainable development associated with traditional energy consumption are major challenges for nations. In this context, finding the different parameters that could influence energy use is essential for sustainable development strategies. Unquestionably, the economic structure of nations can influence energy usage; however, the limited literature on this topic delved into the impact of economic complexity on non-renewable energy usage. Hence, this study extends the literature and tests the effect of knowledge-based economic structure (economic complexity) on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in 14 European Union countries from 1990 to 2017 using the methods robust against both heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. The long-run empirical results established that economic complexity increases renewable energy and decreases non-renewable energy use. Also, economic complexity Granger causes non-renewable energy while feedback effect exists between renewable energy and economic complexity. Based on the results, policies are discussed for promoting sustainable growth.

Dynamics between environmental taxes and ecological sustainability: Evidence from top‐seven green economies by novel quantile approaches

“…In order to capture the role of energy transition toward environmental quality and sustainable development prospects leading emerging economies, Onifade and Alola (2022) used the panel ARDL and the result gathered from this study disclosed that green energy is crucial toward achieving carbon neutrality. Can and Ahmed (2022) for 16 EU countries and Lohani et al (2022) for Nepal reached on the similar conclusion that renewable energy is a significant factor in promoting sustainable development. However, Koseoglu et al (2022) analyzed the data of top-20 green economies and conclude that green technologies are the prominent factor to upsurge the sustainable development.…”

“…Environmental taxation could facilitate the shift toward a climateneutral economy until 2050 and meet the European Green Deal's goal of a 55% mitigation in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (Can & Ahmed, 2022). Amid recommendations for increased environmental taxation at the domestic, European, and international levels, enforcement has been sluggish.…”

“…The European Green Deal recognizes the critical role that environmental taxation plays in transforming a cleaner and green economy that may also push the imposition of environmental taxes in the years ahead. Environmental taxation could facilitate the shift toward a climate‐neutral economy until 2050 and meet the European Green Deal's goal of a 55% mitigation in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (Can & Ahmed, 2022). Amid recommendations for increased environmental taxation at the domestic, European, and international levels, enforcement has been sluggish.…”

Ensuring environmental inclusion in developing countries: the role of macroeconomic policies

“…Many studies have used different proxies to measure environmental sustainability; for example, Ahmed et al ( 2022a ) use ecological footprint for environmental sustainability while Ahmed et al ( 2022b ) use CO 2 reduction for environmental sustainability. On the one hand, Can and Ahmed ( 2022 ) have used renewable energy as a proxy for sustainable development, while Ahmed et al ( 2022b ) used per labor aggregate output for sustainable development. For environmental degradation, Jiang et al ( 2022 ), Rehman et al ( 2022a .…”

The Role of Renewable Energy Consumption in Promoting Sustainability and Circular Economy. A Data-Driven Analysis

“…The results are tested using the Granger Causality tool. [2] analyze the connection between economic complexity, i.e. the knowledge based economic structure of the economy, and the renewable and non-renewable energy consumption.…”