Greenhouse gases emissions, growth and the energy mix in Europe

The importance of energy on greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions is reflected by the fact that 65% of said emissions in the World are currently due to the use and production of energy. However, most empirical emission models are found within the Environmental Kuznetz Curve (EKC) framework, which focuses on the relationship between emissions and economic development. Ang's (2007, 2008) papers are some of the exceptions that simultaneously study the relationship between emissions, growth and energy. With respect to Ang's research, we contribute on two important aspects. First, while Ang uses a particular country as the study and use time series techniques, we take advantage of a panel data set of 24 European countries between 1990 and 2006 and use a Dynamic Panel Data (DPD) framework. Second, the impact of energy consumption on emissions would depend on the primary energy mix and on the final use of this energy, and we consider both factors in the model. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.