Sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in Africa: can renewable energy mitigate the effect?

Owing to increased energy consumption, the growth of various sectors of economies has the tendency to increase carbon dioxide emissions, a major component of greenhouse gases that causes climate change and global warming. A suggested panacea is to increase the development and usage of renewable ener...

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Main Author: Paul Adjei Kwakwa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-06-01
Series:Research in Globalization
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590051X23000205
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author Paul Adjei Kwakwa
author_facet Paul Adjei Kwakwa
author_sort Paul Adjei Kwakwa
collection DOAJ
description Owing to increased energy consumption, the growth of various sectors of economies has the tendency to increase carbon dioxide emissions, a major component of greenhouse gases that causes climate change and global warming. A suggested panacea is to increase the development and usage of renewable energy which is cleaner and emits less carbon dioxide. In this study the carbon dioxide emission effect of growth in the agricultural sector, industrial sector, and service sector is assessed. It goes on to analyse the moderation role of renewable energy in the sectoral growth-carbon dioxide emissions nexus. Using data from 32 African countries for the period 2002–2021, the study finds that expansion in agricultural sector, industrial sector and service sector exerts upward pressure on carbon dioxide emissions for the region while renewable energy reduces carbon emissions. Furthermore, renewable energy interacts with the agricultural and industrial sectors to reduce their impact on carbon emissions while the opposite is observed for the service sector. Other findings are that trade openness, urbanization and income increase carbon dioxide emissions. The study recommends the need to remove financial impediments that constrain firms operating in the various sectors of African economies. This will enhance their acquisition of efficient technologies for operations in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Also, governments in the region should increase financial support for the development and adoption of renewable energy. Incentives should be introduced to “lure” firms to adopt renewable energy. Imposition of a heavy tax on firms in the service sector whose operations cause higher emission may help ensure the sector becomes environmentally friendly.
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spelling doaj.art-9f5151b856474ff0a6358020b0d5e55d2023-06-14T04:34:10ZengElsevierResearch in Globalization2590-051X2023-06-016100130Sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in Africa: can renewable energy mitigate the effect?Paul Adjei Kwakwa0School of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaOwing to increased energy consumption, the growth of various sectors of economies has the tendency to increase carbon dioxide emissions, a major component of greenhouse gases that causes climate change and global warming. A suggested panacea is to increase the development and usage of renewable energy which is cleaner and emits less carbon dioxide. In this study the carbon dioxide emission effect of growth in the agricultural sector, industrial sector, and service sector is assessed. It goes on to analyse the moderation role of renewable energy in the sectoral growth-carbon dioxide emissions nexus. Using data from 32 African countries for the period 2002–2021, the study finds that expansion in agricultural sector, industrial sector and service sector exerts upward pressure on carbon dioxide emissions for the region while renewable energy reduces carbon emissions. Furthermore, renewable energy interacts with the agricultural and industrial sectors to reduce their impact on carbon emissions while the opposite is observed for the service sector. Other findings are that trade openness, urbanization and income increase carbon dioxide emissions. The study recommends the need to remove financial impediments that constrain firms operating in the various sectors of African economies. This will enhance their acquisition of efficient technologies for operations in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Also, governments in the region should increase financial support for the development and adoption of renewable energy. Incentives should be introduced to “lure” firms to adopt renewable energy. Imposition of a heavy tax on firms in the service sector whose operations cause higher emission may help ensure the sector becomes environmentally friendly.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590051X23000205Renewable energySectoral growthCarbon dioxide emissionsAfrican CountriesSustainable Development Goals
spellingShingle Paul Adjei Kwakwa
Sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in Africa: can renewable energy mitigate the effect?
Research in Globalization
Renewable energy
Sectoral growth
Carbon dioxide emissions
African Countries
Sustainable Development Goals
title Sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in Africa: can renewable energy mitigate the effect?
title_full Sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in Africa: can renewable energy mitigate the effect?
title_fullStr Sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in Africa: can renewable energy mitigate the effect?
title_full_unstemmed Sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in Africa: can renewable energy mitigate the effect?
title_short Sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in Africa: can renewable energy mitigate the effect?
title_sort sectoral growth and carbon dioxide emission in africa can renewable energy mitigate the effect
topic Renewable energy
Sectoral growth
Carbon dioxide emissions
African Countries
Sustainable Development Goals
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590051X23000205
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