The multidimensional relationship between renewable energy deployment and carbon dioxide emissions in high-income nations

Abstract

Cross-national research has found that the decarbonization effect of renewable energy development is relatively weak in high-income nations. It is crucial to identify effective points of intervention to enhance renewables’ decarbonization effect. Using a multidimensional analytical framework, this study examines whether certain structural components of high-income nations’ CO2 emissions are particularly susceptible to barriers to decarbonization and therefore are less effectively mitigated by renewable energy development. Analyzing a panel dataset covering 33 high-income nations from 1996 to 2019, I identify a pattern of uneven decarbonization. Renewable energy development has mitigated production-based emissions with increasing effectiveness over time; however, the mitigation effect has been largely confined to emissions from domestic-oriented supply chain activities. Meanwhile, renewables’ inability to mitigate emissions embodied in exports and direct end-user emissions has largely persisted over time. Additionally, developing renewable energy has not spurred growth in emissions in imports, indicating that it has not intensified carbon leakage.