To read this content please select one of the options below:

The relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth: The case of Bulgaria

Hamit Can (Technical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria)
Özge Korkmaz (Bayburt Universitesi, Bayburt, Turkey)

International Journal of Energy Sector Management

ISSN: 1750-6220

Article publication date: 3 January 2019

Issue publication date: 8 August 2019

2553

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between renewable energy and economic growth of Bulgaria.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyzes the relationship between renewable energy and economic growth of Bulgaria for the period 1990-2016, based on annual data, by using the Toda–Yamamoto analysis and Autogressive Distrubuted Lag (ARDL) bound test. This period is characterized by the democratization of the Balkans and several crisis cycles in Bulgaria. Renewable energy consumption (REC, percentage of total final energy consumption), renewable electricity output (REO, percentage of total electricity output) and economic growth (GDP constant 2010 US$) were used. The levels or differences of the variables that are stationary were investigated using the augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF), Philips–Perron (PP) and Kwiatkowski-Philips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS) unit root tests.

Findings

Three different results were obtained from this study. One showed that renewable energy consumption and renewable electricity output are the causes of economic growth. Another result of this study is that economic growth and renewable electricity output are the causes of renewable energy consumption. The last result is that economic growth and renewable energy consumption are not causes of renewable electricity output. There was no long-term relationship between variables.

Research limitations/implications

The ARDL and Toda–Yamamoto tests were used because of lack of data sets. Thus, it is estimated that there is no long-term relationship.

Originality/value

This study is an original work for Bulgaria, showing the results of the relationship between renewable energy and economic growth. In line with the results of this study, renewable energy projects related to Bulgaria can be predicted.

Keywords

Citation

Can, H. and Korkmaz, Ö. (2020), "The relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth: The case of Bulgaria", International Journal of Energy Sector Management, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 573-589. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-11-2017-0005

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles