Mehdi Ben Jebli

The Role of Renewable Energy Consumption and Trade: Environmental Kuznets Curve Analysis for Sub‐Saharan Africa Countries

Based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, this paper uses panel cointegration techniques to investigate the short and the long-run relationship between CO2 emissions, economic growth, renewable energy consumption and trade openness for a panel of 24 Sub-Saharan Africa countries over the period 1980-2010. The validity of the EKC hypothesis has not been supported for these countries. Short-run Granger causality results reveal that there is a bidirectional causality between emissions and economic growth; bidirectional causality between emissions and real exports; unidirectional causality from real imports to emissions; and unidirectional causality runs from trade (exports or imports) to renewable energy consumption. There is an indirect short-run causality running from emissions to renewable energy and an indirect short-run causality from GDP to renewable energy. In the long-run, the error correction term is statistically significant for emissions, renewable energy consumption and trade openness. The long-run estimates suggest that real GDP per capita and real imports per capita both have a negative and statistically significant impact on per capita CO2 emissions. The impact of the square of real GDP per capita and real exports per capita are both positive and statistically significant on per capita CO2 emissions. For the model with imports, renewable energy consumption per capita has a positive impact on per capita emissions. One policy recommendation is that Sub-Saharan countries should expand their trade exchanges particularly with developed countries and try to maximize their benefit from technology transfer generated by such trade relations as this increases their renewable energy consumption.

Renewable energy consumption and agriculture: evidence for cointegration and Granger causality for Tunisian economy

ABSTRACT This paper uses the vector error correction model (VECM) and Granger causality tests to investigate short and long-run relationships between per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, real gross domestic product (GDP), renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, trade openness ratio and agricultural value added (AVA) in Tunisia spanning the period 1980–2011. The Johansen-Juselius test shows that all our considered variables are cointegrated. Short-run Granger causality tests reveal the existence of bidirectional causalities between AVA and CO2 emissions, and between AVA and trade. There are short-run unidirectional causalities running from non-renewable energy and GDP to AVA and to renewable energy, and running from CO2 emissions to renewable energy. Interestingly, there are long-run bidirectional causalities between all considered variables. Our long-run parameters estimates show that non-renewable energy, trade and AVA increase CO2 emissions, whereas renewable energy reduces CO2 emissions. In addition, the inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is not supported. Our policy recommendations are to increase international economic exchanges because this gives new opportunities to the agricultural sector to develop and to benefit from renewable energy technology transfer. Subsidizing renewable energy use in the agricultural sector enables it to become more competitive on the international markets while polluting less and contributing to combat global warming.This paper uses the vector error correction model (VECM) and Granger causality tests to investigate short and long-run relationships between per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, real gross domestic product (GDP), renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, trade openness ratio and agricultural value added (AVA) in Tunisia spanning the period 1980-2011. The Johansen-Juselius test shows that all our considered variables are cointegrated. Short-run Granger causality tests reveal the existence of bidirectional causalities between AVA and CO2 emissions, and between AVA and trade; unidirectional causalities running from non-renewable energy and output to AVA and to renewable energy, and from CO2 emissions to renewable energy. Interestingly, there are long-run bidirectional causalities between all considered variables. Our long-run parameters estimates show that non-renewable energy, trade and AVA increase CO2 emissions, whereas renewable energy reduces CO2 emissions. In addition, the inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is not supported. Our policy recommendations are to increase international economic exchanges because this gives new opportunities to the agricultural sector to develop and to benefit from renewable energy technology transfer. Subsidizing renewable energy use in the agricultural sector enables it to become more competitive on the international markets while polluting less and contributing to combat global warming.

On the causal links between health indicator, output, combustible renewables and waste consumption, rail transport, and CO2 emissions: the case of Tunisia.

This study employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and Granger causality test to investigate the short- and long-run relationships between health indicator, real GDP, combustible renewables and waste consumption, rail transport, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for the case of Tunisia, spanning the period of 1990–2011. The empirical findings suggest that the Fisher statistic of the Wald test confirm the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables. Moreover, the long-run estimated elasticities of the ARDL model provide that output and combustible renewables and waste consumption have a positive and statistically significant impact on health situation, while CO2 emissions and rail transport both contribute to the decrease of health indicator. Granger causality results affirm that, in the short-run, there is a unidirectional causality running from real GDP to health, a unidirectional causality from health to combustible renewables and waste consumption, and a unidirectional causality from all variables to CO2 emissions. In the long-run, all the computed error correction terms are significant and confirm the existence of long-run association among the variables. Our recommendations for the Tunisian policymakers are as follows: (i) exploiting wastes and renewable fuels can be a good strategy to eliminate pollution caused by emissions and subsequently improve health quality, (ii) the use of renewable energy as a main source for national rail transport is an effective strategy for public health, (iii) renewable energy investment projects are beneficial plans for the country as this contributes to the growth of its own economy and reduce energy dependence, and (iii) more renewable energy consumption leads not only to decrease pollution but also to stimulate health situation because of the increase of doctors and nurses numbers.

The dynamic interaction between combustible renewables and waste consumption and international tourism: the case of Tunisia

This paper employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds methodological approach to investigate the relationship between economic growth, combustible renewables and waste consumption, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and international tourism for the case of Tunisia spanning the period 1990–2010. The results from the Fisher statistic of both the Wald test and the Johansen test confirm the presence of a long-run relationship among the variables under investigation. The stability of estimated parameters has been tested, while Granger causality tests recommend a short-run unidirectional causality running from economic growth and combustible renewables and waste consumption to CO2 emissions, a bidirectional causality between economic growth and combustible renewables and waste consumption and unidirectional causality running from economic growth and combustible renewables and waste consumption to international tourism. In the long-run, the error correction terms confirm the presence of bidirectional causality relationships between economic growth, CO2 emissions, combustible renewables and waste consumption, and international tourism. Our long-run estimates show that combustible renewables and waste consumption increases international tourism, and both renewables and waste consumption and international tourism increase CO2 emissions and output. We recommend that (i) Tunisia should use more combustible renewables and waste energy as this eliminates wastes from touristic zones and increases the number of tourist arrivals, leading to economic growth, and (ii) a fraction of this economic growth generated by the increase in combustible renewables and waste consumption should be invested in clean renewable energy production (i.e., solar, wind, geothermal) and energy efficiency projects.

The dynamic causal links between CO2 emissions from transport, real GDP, energy use and international tourism

ABSTRACT This study examines the dynamic causality relationship between international tourism and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from transport, real gross domestic product and energy use. The vector error correction model and Granger causality test approach have been used to investigate these relationships for the top ten international tourism destinations spanning the period 1995–2013. Results reveal a unidirectional causality running from CO2 emissions to economic growth without feedback; a bidirectional causality between economic growth and energy use; a bidirectional causality between international tourism and economic growth; and a bidirectional causality between international tourism and energy use. They also suggest that energy use and international tourism both contribute to the decrease of emissions level coming from transport sector, while economic growth leads to the increase of CO2 emissions. This study can be used in policy recommendations by encouraging countries to use clean energy and to stimulate tourism sector for combating global warming.