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

Giulia Caruso, Emiliano Colantonio and Stefano Antonio Gattone
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Giulia Caruso: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, University G. d’Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, Via L. Polacchi n. 11, 66100 Chieti, Italy
Emiliano Colantonio: Department of Philosophical, Pedagogical and Economic-Quantitative Sciences, University G. d’Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, V.le Pindaro n. 42, 65127 Pescara, Italy
Stefano Antonio Gattone: Department of Philosophical, Pedagogical and Economic-Quantitative Sciences, University G. d’Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, V.le Pindaro n. 42, 65127 Pescara, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-16

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.

Keywords: renewable energy consumption; CO 2; health; PVAR; low carbon economy; environmental policy; hydrocarbon economy; clean energy development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (32)

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