Using Quantile Mediation Analysis to Explore Relationships among Hydropower Energy Consumption, Economic Growth, and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Taiwan

In this study, we employ the novel method of quantile mediation analysis to explore dynamic relationships among hydropower energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emissions in Taiwan during the period between 1990 and 2020. The empirical results show that hydropower energy consumption only has a direct effect on reducing carbon dioxide emissions at a 0.2 distribution of carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, results indicate that economic growth does not have a mediating effect between hydropower energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions at any distribution of carbon dioxide emissions. Lastly, evidence produced by this study supports the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve in the context of Taiwan.

Automated summary

In this study, we applied the novel quantile mediation analysis method to examine the relationships among hydropower energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emissions in Taiwan from 1990 to 2020. The empirical findings reveal that hydropower energy consumption has a direct impact on reducing carbon dioxide emissions only at a 0.2 distribution level. Additionally, the results indicate that economic growth does not act as a mediating factor between hydropower energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions across various distribution levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Lastly, the research provides evidence supporting the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve in Taiwan.