Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Economic growth, combustible renewables and waste consumption, and CO2 emissions in North Africa

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper uses panel cointegration techniques and Granger causality tests to examine the dynamic causal link between per capita real gross domestic product (GDP), combustible renewables and waste (CRW) consumption, and CO2 emissions for a panel of five North African countries during the period 1971–2008. Granger causality test results suggest short- and long-run unidirectional causalities running from CO2 emissions and CRW consumption to real GDP and a short-run unidirectional causality running from CRW to CO2 emissions. The results from panel long-run fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) estimates show that CO2 emissions and CRW consumption have a positive and statistically significant impact on GDP. Our policy recommendations are that these countries should use more CRW because this increases their output, reduces their energy dependency on fossil energy, and may decrease their CO2 emissions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. This study concerns both Sudan and South Sudan because of lack of data concerning each country taken separately.

  2. The criteria used for the lag order selection are sequential-modified LR statistic test (LR), final prediction error (FPE), Akaike information criterion (AIC), Schwarz information criterion (SIC), and Hannan-Quinn information criterion (HQ). Based on all these criteria, the optimal number of lag selected for VAR model is 1.

References

  • Al-Mulali U, Fereidouni HG, Janice YL, Che NB, Che S (2013) Examining the bi-directional long run relationship between renewable energy consumption and GDP growth. Renew Sust Energ Rev 22:209–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Mulali U, Fereidouni HG, Lee JYM (2014) Electricity consumption from renewable and non-renewable sources and economic growth: evidence from Latin American countries. Renew Sust Energ Rev 30:290–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apergis N, Payne JE (2010a) Renewable energy consumption and economic growth evidence from a panel of OECD countries. Energ Policy 38:656–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apergis N, Payne JE (2010b) Renewable energy consumption and growth in Eurasia. Energy Econ 32:1392–1397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apergis N, Payne JE (2011) The renewable energy consumption-growth nexus in Central America. Appl Energy 88:343–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apergis N, Payne JE (2012) Renewable and non-renewable energy consumption-growth nexus: evidence from a panel error correction model. Energy Econ 34:733–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apergis N, Payne JE (2014) Renewable energy, output, CO2 emissions, and fossil fuel prices in Central America: evidence from a nonlinear panel smooth transition vector error correction model. Energy Econ 42:226–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apergis N, Payne JE, Menyah K, Wolde-Rufael Y (2010) On the causal dynamics between emissions, nuclear energy, renewable energy, and economic growth. Ecol Econ 69:2255–2260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ben Aïssa MS, Ben Jebli M, Ben Youssef S (2014) Output, renewable energy consumption and trade in Africa. Energ Policy 66:11–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ben Jebli M, Ben Youssef S (2015) The environmental Kuznets curve, economic growth, renewable and non-renewable energy, and trade in Tunisia. Renew Sust Energ Rev 47:173–185

  • Ben Jebli M, Ben Youssef S, Ozturk I (2013) The environmental Kuznets curve: the role of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and trade openness, MPRA paper 51672. University Library of Munich, Germany

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben Jebli M, Ben Youssef S, Ozturk I, (2014). The role of renewable energy consumption and trade: environmental Kuznets curve analysis for sub-Saharan Africa countries, Working Papers 2014–467, Department of Research, IPAG Business School

  • Breitung J (2000) The local power of some unit root tests for panel data. In: Baltagi B (ed) Non stationary panels, panel cointegration, and dynamic panels, advances in econometrics, 15. JAI Press, Amsterdam, pp 161–178

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Engle RF, Granger CWJ (1987) Co-integration and error correction: representation, estimation, and testing. Econometrica 55:251–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farhani S, Shahbaz M (2014) What role of renewable and non-renewable electricity consumption and output is needed to initially mitigate CO2 emissions in MENA region? Renew Sust Energ Rev 40:80–90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Im KS, Pesaran MH, Shin Y (2003) Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels. J Econ 115:53–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johansen S (1988) Statistical analysis of cointegration vectors. J Econ Dyn Control 12:231–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kao C (1999) Spurious regression and residual-based tests for cointegration in panel data. J Econ 90:1–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin A, Lin CF, Chu CS (2002) Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties. J Econ 108:1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menegaki AN (2011) Growth and renewable energy in Europe: a random effect model with evidence for neutrality hypothesis. Energy Econ 33:257–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menyah K, Wolde-Rufael Y (2010) CO2 emissions, nuclear energy, renewable energy and economic growth in the US. Energ Policy 38:2911–2915

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ocal O, Aslan A (2013) Renewable energy consumption–economic growth nexus in Turkey. Renew Sust Energ Rev 28:494–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ozturk I, Acaravci A (2010) CO2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Turkey. Renew Sust Energ Rev 14:3220–3225

  • Payne JE (2011) On biomass energy consumption and real output in the US. Energy sources, part B: economics. Plann Policy 6:47–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Pedroni P (2001) Purchasing power parity tests in cointegrated panels. Rev Econ Stat 83:727–731

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedroni P (2004) Panel cointegration: asymptotic and finite sample properties of pooled time series tests with an application to the PPP hypothesis. Econometric Theory 20:597–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadorsky P (2009a) Renewable energy consumption, CO2 emissions and oil prices in the G7 countries. Energy Econ 31:456–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sadorsky P (2009b) Renewable energy consumption and income in emerging economies. Energ Policy 37:4021–4028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salim RA, Rafiq S (2012) Why do some emerging economies proactively accelerate the adoption of renewable energy? Energy Econ 34:1051–1057

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shafiei S, Salim RA (2014) Non-renewable and renewable energy consumption and CO2 emissions in OECD countries: a comparative analysis. Energ Policy 66:547–556

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tugcu CT, Ozturk I, Aslan A (2012) Renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and economic growth relationship revisited: evidence from G7 countries. Energy Econ 34:1942–1950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (2012) The renewable energy sector in North Africa: current situation and prospects. Rabat, Morocco

  • World Bank (2011) World Development Indicators. Accessed at: http://www.worldbank.org/data/onlinedatabases/onlinedatabases.html

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Editor and three anonymous referees for their very useful comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Amen Bank, Kef Agency, Kef, Tunisia

    Mehdi Ben Jebli

  2. ESC de Tunis, Manouba University, Campus Universitaire, Manouba, 2010, Tunisia

    Slim Ben Youssef

Authors
  1. Mehdi Ben Jebli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Slim Ben Youssef
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mehdi Ben Jebli.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ben Jebli, M., Ben Youssef, S. Economic growth, combustible renewables and waste consumption, and CO2 emissions in North Africa. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 16022–16030 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4792-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4792-0

Keywords

Jel Classification

Search

Navigation