Factors influencing energy consumption in the context of sustainable development

Abstract

Based on the global need to reduce the primary and final energy consumption, as part of the climate change mitigation strategy, the present study aims at determining the influence of different economic, social and environmental factors on the two types of consumption while emphasizing the importance of this topic for the research area. The novelty of the study resides in the factors considered in the panel analysis as well as in the combination of the analysis methods: the panel data analysis and the bibliometric analysis. The main results show that factors such as greenhouse gas emissions, gross domestic product, population and labour growth have a positive relationship with both primary and final energy consumption, which means an increase of energy consumption. Meanwhile, factors such as feminine population increase, healthcare expenditures or energy taxes have a negative relationship, which determine a reduction of energy consumption. The results should be of interest to the authorities in designing new energy reduction policies for contributing to sustainable development goals, as well as to the researchers.