IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v245y2022ics0360544222001475.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

European energy transition: Decomposing the performance of nuclear power

Author

Listed:
  • Marques, António Cardoso
  • Junqueira, Thibaut Manuel

Abstract

The quest for safe energy in the EU has increasingly led to a policy of zero nuclear power and a shift towards renewable sources. The phasing out of nuclear power is being carefully undertaken, so as not create negative externalities, even though not all countries are ready to make this move, and despite the valuable role nuclear energy can play in backing up intermittent renewables. This paper examines the transition towards carbon-free electrification through the interactions between the various electricity sources, using the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices and carbon dioxide emissions in countries with nuclear power generation in the European Union and Switzerland. Monthly data, from January 2014 to December 2018 was analysed by means of an Autoregressive Distributed Lag model using the Driscoll and Kraay estimator with fixed effects. This approach allowed the electricity generation processes of the selected countries to be analysed, as well as the long- and short-run impacts. Our findings suggest that nuclear energy can be effective in accommodating renewable electricity into these systems, whereas using fossil generation to back up renewable sources leads to higher prices for consumers.

Suggested Citation

  • Marques, António Cardoso & Junqueira, Thibaut Manuel, 2022. "European energy transition: Decomposing the performance of nuclear power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:245:y:2022:i:c:s0360544222001475
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.123244
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544222001475
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2022.123244?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chen, Yulong & Wang, Zheng & Zhong, Zhangqi, 2019. "CO2 emissions, economic growth, renewable and non-renewable energy production and foreign trade in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 208-216.
    2. Al-Mansour, Fouad & Sucic, Boris & Pusnik, Matevz, 2014. "Challenges and prospects of electricity production from renewable energy sources in Slovenia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 73-81.
    3. IqtiyaniIlham, Nur & Hasanuzzaman, M. & Hosenuzzaman, M., 2017. "European smart grid prospects, policies, and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 776-790.
    4. Dumitrescu, Elena-Ivona & Hurlin, Christophe, 2012. "Testing for Granger non-causality in heterogeneous panels," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 1450-1460.
    5. Salim, Ruhul A. & Hassan, Kamrul & Shafiei, Sahar, 2014. "Renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and economic activities: Further evidence from OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 350-360.
    6. Zivot, Eric & Andrews, Donald W K, 2002. "Further Evidence on the Great Crash, the Oil-Price Shock, and the Unit-Root Hypothesis," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(1), pages 25-44, January.
    7. Nikolett Deutsch, 2017. "The Changing Role of Nuclear Power in the European Union: Reflections from Official Scenarios Released before and after the Fukushima Daiichi Accident," Theory Methodology Practice (TMP), Faculty of Economics, University of Miskolc, vol. 13(01), pages 17-36.
    8. Hashem Pesaran, M. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2008. "Testing slope homogeneity in large panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 50-93, January.
    9. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Kahia, Montassar, 2019. "Impact of renewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions and economic growth in the MENA region: A panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 198-213.
    10. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    11. M. Hashem Pesaran & Yongcheol Shin & Richard J. Smith, 2001. "Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 289-326.
    12. Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Roubaud, David & Farhani, Sahbi, 2018. "How economic growth, renewable electricity and natural resources contribute to CO2 emissions?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 356-367.
    13. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    14. Ito, Katsuya, 2017. "CO2 emissions, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, and economic growth: Evidence from panel data for developing countries," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1-6.
    15. Jenkins, J.D. & Zhou, Z. & Ponciroli, R. & Vilim, R.B. & Ganda, F. & de Sisternes, F. & Botterud, A., 2018. "The benefits of nuclear flexibility in power system operations with renewable energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 872-884.
    16. Khan, Muhammad Tariq Iqbal & Ali, Qamar & Ashfaq, Muhammad, 2018. "The nexus between greenhouse gas emission, electricity production, renewable energy and agriculture in Pakistan," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 437-451.
    17. Daniel Hoechle, 2007. "Robust standard errors for panel regressions with cross-sectional dependence," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(3), pages 281-312, September.
    18. Halil Alt ntas & Melike Kum, 2013. "Multivariate Granger Causality between Electricity Generation, Exports, Prices and Economic Growth in Turkey," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 3(Special), pages 41-51.
    19. Cerdeira Bento, João Paulo & Moutinho, Victor, 2016. "CO2 emissions, non-renewable and renewable electricity production, economic growth, and international trade in Italy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 142-155.
    20. Chen, Yulong & Zhao, Jincai & Lai, Zhizhu & Wang, Zheng & Xia, Haibin, 2019. "Exploring the effects of economic growth, and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on China’s CO2 emissions: Evidence from a regional panel analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 341-353.
    21. Lau, Lin-Sea & Choong, Chee-Keong & Ng, Cheong-Fatt & Liew, Feng-Mei & Ching, Suet-Ling, 2019. "Is nuclear energy clean? Revisit of Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in OECD countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 12-20.
    22. Blumer, Yann B. & Moser, Corinne & Patt, Anthony & Seidl, Roman, 2015. "The precarious consensus on the importance of energy security: Contrasting views between Swiss energy users and experts," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 927-936.
    23. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Macedo, Daniela Pereira, 2019. "The impact of feed-in and capacity policies on electricity generation from renewable energy sources in Spain," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 159-168.
    24. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    25. Clò, Stefano & Cataldi, Alessandra & Zoppoli, Pietro, 2015. "The merit-order effect in the Italian power market: The impact of solar and wind generation on national wholesale electricity prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 79-88.
    26. Murad, Wahid & Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Noman, Abu Hanifa Md. & OZTURK, Ilhan, 2019. "Dynamics of technological innovation, energy consumption, energy price and economic growth in Denmark," OSF Preprints 9tkj8, Center for Open Science.
    27. Amri, Fethi, 2017. "The relationship amongst energy consumption (renewable and non-renewable), and GDP in Algeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 62-71.
    28. Saint Akadiri, Seyi & Alola, Andrew Adewale & Akadiri, Ada Chigozie & Alola, Uju Violet, 2019. "Renewable energy consumption in EU-28 countries: Policy toward pollution mitigation and economic sustainability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 803-810.
    29. Bernard N. Iyke & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2014. "The Dynamic Causal Relationship between Electricity Consumption and Economic Growth in Ghana: A Trivariate Causality Model," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 12(2 (Summer), pages 141-160.
    30. Perez, Alex & Garcia-Rendon, John J., 2021. "Integration of non-conventional renewable energy and spot price of electricity: A counterfactual analysis for Colombia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 146-161.
    31. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Pereira, Diogo André, 2018. "Have fossil fuels been substituted by renewables? An empirical assessment for 10 European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 257-265.
    32. Jin, Taeyoung & Kim, Jinsoo, 2018. "What is better for mitigating carbon emissions – Renewable energy or nuclear energy? A panel data analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 464-471.
    33. Emeka Nkoro & Aham Kelvin Uko, 2016. "Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration technique: application and interpretation," Journal of Statistical and Econometric Methods, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 5(4), pages 1-3.
    34. Vogelsang, Timothy J., 2012. "Heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation, and spatial correlation robust inference in linear panel models with fixed-effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 166(2), pages 303-319.
    35. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Menegaki, Angeliki N., 2014. "Interactions between electricity generation sources and economic activity in Greece: A VECM approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 34-46.
    36. Jos Alberto Fuinhas & Ant nio Cardoso Marques & Alcino Pinto Couto, 2015. "Oil-Growth Nexus in Oil Producing Countries: Macro Panel Evidence," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 5(1), pages 148-163.
    37. Anton, Sorin Gabriel & Afloarei Nucu, Anca Elena, 2020. "The effect of financial development on renewable energy consumption. A panel data approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 330-338.
    38. Finn Roar Aune & Rolf Golombek & Hilde Hallre, 2015. "Phasing out Nuclear Power in Europe," CESifo Working Paper Series 5403, CESifo.
    39. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Nunes, André Roque, 2016. "Electricity generation mix and economic growth: What role is being played by nuclear sources and carbon dioxide emissions in France?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 7-19.
    40. Jouini, Jamel, 2015. "Economic growth and remittances in Tunisia: Bi-directional causal links," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 355-373.
    41. Brigitte Knopf & Michael Pahle & Hendrik Kondziella & Fabian Joas & Ottmar Edenhofer & Thomas Bruckner, 2014. "Germany's Nuclear Phase-out: Sensitivities and Impacts on Electricity Prices and CO2 Emissions," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1).
    42. Apergis, Nicholas & Ben Jebli, Mehdi & Ben Youssef, Slim, 2018. "Does renewable energy consumption and health expenditures decrease carbon dioxide emissions? Evidence for sub-Saharan Africa countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 1011-1016.
    43. Angeliki N. Menegaki, 2019. "The ARDL Method in the Energy-Growth Nexus Field; Best Implementation Strategies," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-16, October.
    44. Gorus, Muhammed Sehid & Aydin, Mucahit, 2019. "The relationship between energy consumption, economic growth, and CO2 emission in MENA countries: Causality analysis in the frequency domain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 815-822.
    45. Staffell, Iain, 2017. "Measuring the progress and impacts of decarbonising British electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 463-475.
    46. Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead & Rosalia Vazquez-Alvarez, 2019. "Convergence in the EU: What role for industrial relations?," Chapters, in: Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead (ed.), Towards Convergence in Europe, chapter 1, pages 1-34, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    47. Furuoka, Fumitaka, 2017. "Renewable electricity consumption and economic development: New findings from the Baltic countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 450-463.
    48. Dogan, Eyup, 2015. "The relationship between economic growth and electricity consumption from renewable and non-renewable sources: A study of Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 534-546.
    49. Oliveira, Tiago & Varum, Celeste & Botelho, Anabela, 2019. "Econometric modeling of CO2 emissions abatement: Comparing alternative approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 310-322.
    50. Katsuya Ito, 2017. "CO2 emissions, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, and economic growth: Evidence from panel data for developing countries," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 151, pages 1-6.
    51. Tiago Lopes Afonso & António Cardoso Marques & José Alberto Fuinhas & e Marco Mano Saldanha, 2018. "Interactions between electricity generation sources and economic activity in two Nord Pool systems. Evidence from Estonia and Sweden," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(29), pages 3115-3127, June.
    52. Dogan, Eyup & Seker, Fahri, 2016. "Determinants of CO2 emissions in the European Union: The role of renewable and non-renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 429-439.
    53. Mirza, Faisal Mehmood & Kanwal, Afra, 2017. "Energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth in Pakistan: Dynamic causality analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 1233-1240.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Neves, Sónia Almeida, 2018. "Ordinary and Special Regimes of electricity generation in Spain: How they interact with economic activity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1226-1240.
    2. Francisco García-Lillo & Eduardo Sánchez-García & Bartolomé Marco-Lajara & Pedro Seva-Larrosa, 2023. "Renewable Energies and Sustainable Development: A Bibliometric Overview," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, January.
    3. Manu, Emmanuel Kwaku & Chen, George S. & Asante, Dennis, 2022. "Regional heterogeneities in the absorptive capacity of renewable energy deployment in Africa," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 554-564.
    4. Chen, Chaoyi & Pinar, Mehmet & Stengos, Thanasis, 2022. "Renewable energy and CO2 emissions: New evidence with the panel threshold model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 117-128.
    5. Danish & Recep Ulucak, 2020. "The pathway toward pollution mitigation: Does institutional quality make a difference?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3571-3583, December.
    6. Anwar, Ahsan & Siddique, Muhammad & Eyup Dogan, & Sharif, Arshian, 2021. "The moderating role of renewable and non-renewable energy in environment-income nexus for ASEAN countries: Evidence from Method of Moments Quantile Regression," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 956-967.
    7. Pereira, Diogo Santos & Marques, António Cardoso, 2020. "Could electricity demand contribute to diversifying the mix and mitigating CO2 emissions? A fresh daily analysis of the French electricity system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    8. Kangyin Dong & Xiucheng Dong & Qingzhe Jiang, 2020. "How renewable energy consumption lower global CO2 emissions? Evidence from countries with different income levels," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(6), pages 1665-1698, June.
    9. Yang, Shuangpeng & umar, Muhammad, 2022. "How globalization is reshaping the environmental quality in G7 economies in the presence of renewable energy initiatives?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 128-135.
    10. Hassan, Taimoor & Song, Huaming & Khan, Yasir & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2022. "Energy efficiency a source of low carbon energy sources? Evidence from 16 high-income OECD economies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    11. Zhang, Qianxiao & Shah, Syed Ale Raza & Yang, Ling, 2022. "Modeling the effect of disaggregated renewable energies on ecological footprint in E5 economies: Do economic growth and R&D matter?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 310(C).
    12. Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Ali, Md. Sumon & Uddin, Gazi Salah & Mahi, Masnun Al & Liu, Yang & Park, Donghyun, 2022. "Is Bangladesh on the right path toward sustainable development? An empirical exploration of energy sources, economic growth, and CO2 discharges nexus," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Jin, Taeyoung, 2022. "The evolutionary renewable energy and mitigation impact in OECD countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 570-586.
    14. Dong, Kangyin & Hochman, Gal & Zhang, Yaqing & Sun, Renjin & Li, Hui & Liao, Hua, 2018. "CO2 emissions, economic and population growth, and renewable energy: Empirical evidence across regions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 180-192.
    15. Hashemizadeh, Ali & Bui, Quocviet & Kongbuamai, Nattapan, 2021. "Unpacking the role of public debt in renewable energy consumption: New insights from the emerging countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    16. Rahman, Mohammad Mafizur & Sultana, Nahid & Velayutham, Eswaran, 2022. "Renewable energy, energy intensity and carbon reduction: Experience of large emerging economies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 252-265.
    17. Adedoyin, Festus Fatai & Alola, Andrew Adewale & Bekun, Festus Victor, 2021. "The alternative energy utilization and common regional trade outlook in EU-27: Evidence from common correlated effects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    18. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Pereira, Diogo André, 2018. "Have fossil fuels been substituted by renewables? An empirical assessment for 10 European countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 257-265.
    19. Solomon P. Nathaniel & Festus V. Bekun, 2020. "Electricity Consumption, Urbanization and Economic Growth in Nigeria: New Insights from Combined Cointegration amidst Structural Breaks," Research Africa Network Working Papers 20/013, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    20. Usman, Muhammad & Makhdum, Muhammad Sohail Amjad, 2021. "What abates ecological footprint in BRICS-T region? Exploring the influence of renewable energy, non-renewable energy, agriculture, forest area and financial development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 12-28.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:245:y:2022:i:c:s0360544222001475. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.