Drivers promoting renewable energy: A dynamic panel approach

We study the commitment to renewable energy sources, focusing on a set of 24 European countries, and applying panel dynamic estimators. Europe is a leading player in the fight against climate change, and the estimators we use reveal themselves to be appropriate in handling the persistency effect on renewables. The level of renewable energy use in the previous period has a positive and highly significant effect on the current level of use. Traditional energy sources restrain the impetus towards renewables. Social awareness of sustainability, climate change mitigation and CO2 reduction targets are not enough to motivate the switch from traditional to renewables energy sources. Income and prices of fossil-based fuels were not significant for the development of renewables in the period from 1990 to 2006, suggesting that it was not the market that encouraged renewables. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.