Open Access Journal Article

Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries

by Sani Abubakar a, b,* ,  John Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon a  and  Marvelous Aigbedion a
a
Department of Economics, Bingham University, Karu, Nigeria
b
Research Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
CEF  2025 3(1):9; https://doi.org/10.58567/cef03010002
Received: 6 July 2024 / Accepted: 29 October 2024 / Published Online: 24 June 2025
View Full-Text
Download PDF

Abstract

The determinants of production-based carbon emission (PCE) have been extensively examined in the literature. However, PCE only accounts for emissions generated within the territory of a country and does not capture emissions embedded in imported goods. The rapid growth in Consumption-based Carbon Emissions (CCE) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), driven by increasing imports and economic activities, highlights the need for a comprehensive understanding of these emissions. This motivates us to examine the impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (REC) on CCE in SSA. We employed a two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) methodology, utilizing data from 1995 to 2020. The results show a negative effect of REC on CCE, suggesting that increases in renewable energy consumption tend to reduce CCE. In contrast, the positive impact of real GDP and population indicates that economic growth and population expansion tend to bolster carbon emissions. These findings underscore the importance of implementing policies harmonizing economic growth with sustainable energy strategies. They provide valuable insights for informed environmental and economic planning decisions.

Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Population; Renewable Energy; Two-Step system GMM;
Copyright: © 2025 by Abubakar, Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon and Aigbedion. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Cite This Paper
APA Style
Abubakar, S., Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon, J., & Aigbedion, M. (2025). Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries. Climate Economics and Finance, 3(1), 9. doi:10.58567/cef03010002
ACS Style
Abubakar, S.; Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon, J.; Aigbedion, M. Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries. Climate Economics and Finance, 2025, 3, 9. doi:10.58567/cef03010002
AMA Style
Abubakar S, Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon J, Aigbedion M. Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries. Climate Economics and Finance; 2025, 3(1):9. doi:10.58567/cef03010002
Chicago/Turabian Style
Abubakar, Sani; Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon, John; Aigbedion, Marvelous 2025. "Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries" Climate Economics and Finance 3, no.1:9. doi:10.58567/cef03010002

Share and Cite

ACS Style
Abubakar, S.; Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon, J.; Aigbedion, M. Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries. Climate Economics and Finance, 2025, 3, 9. doi:10.58567/cef03010002
AMA Style
Abubakar S, Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon J, Aigbedion M. Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries. Climate Economics and Finance; 2025, 3(1):9. doi:10.58567/cef03010002
Chicago/Turabian Style
Abubakar, Sani; Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon, John; Aigbedion, Marvelous 2025. "Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries" Climate Economics and Finance 3, no.1:9. doi:10.58567/cef03010002
APA style
Abubakar, S., Olu-Coris Aiyedogbon, J., & Aigbedion, M. (2025). Renewable Energy Consumption and Consumption-Based Carbon Emissions in Sub-Saharan African Countries. Climate Economics and Finance, 3(1), 9. doi:10.58567/cef03010002

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

References

  1. Adebayo, T. S., Awosusi, A. A., and Adeshola, I. (2020). Determinants of CO2 emissions in emerging markets: empirical evidence from MINT economies. International Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 9(3), 411. https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.2020.31321
  2. Adebayo, T. S., Awosusi, A. A., Rjoub, H., Agyekum, E. B., and Kirikkaleli, D. (2022). The influence of renewable energy usage on consumption-based carbon emissions in MINT economies. Heliyon, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08941
  3. Aguirre, M., and Ibikunle, G. (2014). Determinants of renewable energy growth: A global sample analysis. Energy policy, 69, 374–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.02.036
  4. Akadiri, S. S., and Adebayo, T. S. (2022). Asymmetric nexus among financial globalization, non- renewable energy, renewable energy use, economic growth, and carbon emissions: impact on environmental sustainability targets in India. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 29(11), 16311-16323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16849-0
  5. Akram, R., Chen, F., Khalid, F., Ye, Z., and Majeed, M. T. (2020). Heterogeneous effects of energy efficiency and renewable energy on carbon emissions: Evidence from developing countries. Journal of cleaner production, 247, 119122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119122
  6. Ali, M., and Kirikkaleli, D. (2022). The asymmetric effect of renewable energy and trade on consumption‐based CO2 emissions: the case of Italy. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 18(3), 784-795. https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.4516
  7. Alsagr, N., and van Hemmen, S. (2021). The impact of financial development and geopolitical risk on renewable energy consumption: evidence from emerging markets. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 25906-25919. 25906–25919 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12447-2
  8. Apergis, N., Payne, J. E., Menyah, K., and Wolde-Rufael, Y. (2010). The causal dynamics between emissions, nuclear energy, renewable energy, and economic growth. Ecological Economics, 69(11), 2255–2260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.06.014
  9. Arellano, M., and Bond, S. (1991). Some tests of specification for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to employment equations. The review of economic studies, 58(2), 277-297. https://doi.org/10.2307/2297968
  10. Arellano, M., & Bover, O. (1995). Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models. Journal of Econometrics, 68(1), 29-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4076(94)01642-D
  11. Arroyo M, F. R., and Miguel, L. J. (2020). The role of renewable energies for the sustainable energy governance and environmental policies for mitigating climate change in Ecuador. Energies, 13(15), 3883. 3883-3883. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13153883
  12. Ashraf, M. S., Mingxing, L., Zhiqiang, M., Ashraf, R. U., Usman, M., and Khan, I. (2023). Adaptation to globalization in renewable energy sources: environmental implications of financial development and human capital in China. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 1060559. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.1060559
  13. Aziz, N., Sharif, A., Raza, A., and Jermsittiparsert, K. (2021). The role of natural resources, globalization, and renewable energy in testing the EKC hypothesis in MINT countries: new evidence from Method of Moments Quantile Regression approach. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 13454–13468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11540-2
  14. Babajide, O., Petrik, L., and Ameer, F. (2015). Technologies for biodiesel production in Sub-Saharan African countries. Biofuels Status Perspect, 39-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/59859
  15. Blundell, R., and Bond, S. (1998). Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models. Journal of Econometrics, 87(1), 115-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(98)00009-8
  16. Dietz, T., and Rosa, E. A. (1997). Environmental impacts of population and consumption. Environmentally significant consumption: Research directions, 92-99. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/5430.html
  17. Erkut, B. (2022). Renewable Energy and Carbon Emissions: New Empirical Evidence from the Union for the Mediterranean. Sustainability, 14(11), 6921. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116921
  18. Gibson, L., Wilman, E. N., and Laurance, W. F. (2017). How green is ‘green energy? Trends in ecology & evolution, 32(12), 922-935. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2017.09.007
  19. GCA (2022). Consumption emissions. https://globalcarbonatlas.org/emissions/carbon-emissions/
  20. Hao, F., and Shao, W. (2021). What really drives the deployment of renewable energy? A global assessment of 118 countries. Energy Research & Social Science, 72, 101880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101880
  21. Hasanov, F. J., Khan, Z., Hussain, M., and Tufail, M. (2021). A theoretical framework for the effects of technological progress and renewable energy consumption on carbon emissions. Sustainable Development, 29(5), 810-822. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2175
  22. IMF (2023). Financing for Resilience, Eleventh African Fiscal Forum, https://www.imf.org/en/News/Seminars/Conferences/2023/03/21/11th-african-fiscal-forum
  23. Khoshnevis Yazdi, S., and Shakouri, B. (2018). The effect of renewable energy and urbanization on CO2 emissions: A panel data. Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 13(2), 121–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/15567249.2017.1400607
  24. Leitão, N. C., and Lorente, D. B. (2020). The linkage between economic growth, renewable energy, tourism, CO2 emissions, and international trade: The evidence for the European Union. Energies, 13(18), 4838. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13184838
  25. Li, B., and Haneklaus, N. (2022). The role of clean energy, fossil fuel consumption, and trade openness for carbon neutrality in China. Energy Reports, 8, 1090-1098. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2022.02.092
  26. Li, B., and Haneklaus, N. (2021). The role of renewable energy, fossil fuel consumption, urbanization, and economic growth on CO2 emissions in China. Energy Reports, 7, 783-791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2021.09.194
  27. Liu, X., Bi, H., and Teng, Y. (2024). An Empirical Study of the Policy of Low-Carbon City Pilot on the Level of Green Technological Innovation. Climate Economics and Finance, 2(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.58567/cef02010001
  28. Mahmood, N., Wang, Z., and Hassan, S. T. (2019). Renewable energy, economic growth, human capital, and CO 2 emission: an empirical analysis. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26, 20619-20630. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05387-5
  29. Mukhtarov, S., Aliyev, F., Aliyev, J., and Ajayi, R. (2023). Renewable energy consumption and carbon emissions: evidence from an oil-rich economy. Sustainability, 15(1), 134. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010134
  30. Nguyen, K. H., and Kakinaka, M. (2019). Renewable energy consumption, carbon emissions, and development stages: Some evidence from panel cointegration analysis. Renewable Energy, 132, 1049-1057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2018.08.069
  31. Oyekale, J., Petrollese, M., Tola, V., and Cau, G. (2020). Impacts of renewable energy resources on effectiveness of grid-integrated systems: Succinct review of current challenges and potential solution strategies. Energies, 13(18), 4856. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13184856
  32. Piłatowska, M., Geise, A., and Włodarczyk, A. (2020). The effect of renewable and nuclear energy consumption on decoupling economic growth from CO2 emissions in Spain. Energies, 13(9), 2124. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13092124
  33. Pratiwi, S., and Juerges, N. (2020). Review of the impact of renewable energy development on the environment and nature conservation in Southeast Asia. Springer Science+Business Media, 5(4), 221-239. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40974-020-00166-2
  34. Roodman, D. (2009). How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata. The State Journal, 9(1), 86–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867X0900900106
  35. Saidi, K., and Omri, A. (2020). Reducing CO2 emissions in OECD countries: Do renewable and nuclear energy matter? Progress in Nuclear Energy, 126, 103425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2020.103425
  36. Shahnaz, R., and Shabani, Z. D. (2021). The effects of renewable energy, spatial spillover of CO2 emissions and economic freedom on CO2 emissions in the EU. Renewable energy, 169, 293–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.01.016
  37. WDI (2023). Databank world development indicators. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators
  38. Wicaksana, T., and Karsinah, K. (2022). Effect of Trade Openness on the Environmental Performance Index in Sub-Sahara Africa. JEJAK, 15(1), 195-206. https://doi.org/10.15294/jejak.v15i1.36948
  39. Yadav, A., Hema, H C., and Shivakumara, M J. (2020). Environmental impact assessment on renewable energy: A review. IOP Publishing, 573(1), 012048–012048. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/573/1/012