Nexus between disaggregated electricity consumption and CO2 emissions in Turkey: new evidence from quantile-on-quantile approach

Abstract

Carbon emission is still one of the most hazardous environmental problem across the world. International authorities as well as local governments are projecting strategies to deal with this issue. To this end, our study aims to explore the link between energy consumption and carbon emission. We attempt to extend the current literature by identifying sector-specific impacts of electricity consumption on carbon emission. Findings suggest that the nexus between electricity consumption and CO2 is sector-specific as well as distribution specific in Turkey. In particular, we find a positive but weak impact of industrial electricity consumptions on CO2 emission. Yet, the effects get stronger for the lowest and highest quantiles of carbon emissions due industrial electricity consumption suggesting an alert for the shift in the current energy policies of the country. Furthermore, we find the electricity used in residents and transportation has insignificant effect on environmental degradation, in contrast to the commercial and public services electricity usage has a positive and strong effect on carbon emission. Therefore, controlling for distribution specific effects and disaggregated consumption patterns facilitate the efficient policy recommendations.