Rethinking Electrification: Environmental Impacts Beyond Carbon Emissions
(2025) NEKH02 20251Department of Economics
- Abstract (Swedish)
- This paper examines if electrification reduces the ecological footprint. By testing the relationship for 68 countries between 2000 and 2021, the hypothesis is not supported. The estimated results indicate that while electrification is associated with lower carbon emissions, it is linked with an increase in land use, regardless of the energy source used for electricity generation, introducing an environmental trade-off. Two additional hypotheses are tested, showing that higher income level and a larger manufacturing sector, respectively, are associated with reductions in the ecological footprint. These results support the Environmental Kuznets Curve, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis
and the Pollution Halo Hypothesis. The estimated... (More) - This paper examines if electrification reduces the ecological footprint. By testing the relationship for 68 countries between 2000 and 2021, the hypothesis is not supported. The estimated results indicate that while electrification is associated with lower carbon emissions, it is linked with an increase in land use, regardless of the energy source used for electricity generation, introducing an environmental trade-off. Two additional hypotheses are tested, showing that higher income level and a larger manufacturing sector, respectively, are associated with reductions in the ecological footprint. These results support the Environmental Kuznets Curve, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis
and the Pollution Halo Hypothesis. The estimated relationship between electrification and the ecological footprint is statistically insignificant, implying that further research is needed to establish whether a correlation exists. To draw robust conclusions based on electrification’s negative effect on land use, additional research is recommended. Given these results, we argue for the adoption of a comprehensive view of environmental degradation in policy assessments to achieve net-zero emissions while preserving land use and resources. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9199348
- author
- Olin, Clara LU and Frisk, Elin
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- NEKH02 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- electrification, ecological footprint, environmental sustainability, climate policy
- language
- English
- id
- 9199348
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-12 09:15:56
- date last changed
- 2025-09-12 09:15:56
@misc{9199348,
abstract = {{This paper examines if electrification reduces the ecological footprint. By testing the relationship for 68 countries between 2000 and 2021, the hypothesis is not supported. The estimated results indicate that while electrification is associated with lower carbon emissions, it is linked with an increase in land use, regardless of the energy source used for electricity generation, introducing an environmental trade-off. Two additional hypotheses are tested, showing that higher income level and a larger manufacturing sector, respectively, are associated with reductions in the ecological footprint. These results support the Environmental Kuznets Curve, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis
and the Pollution Halo Hypothesis. The estimated relationship between electrification and the ecological footprint is statistically insignificant, implying that further research is needed to establish whether a correlation exists. To draw robust conclusions based on electrification’s negative effect on land use, additional research is recommended. Given these results, we argue for the adoption of a comprehensive view of environmental degradation in policy assessments to achieve net-zero emissions while preserving land use and resources.}},
author = {{Olin, Clara and Frisk, Elin}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Rethinking Electrification: Environmental Impacts Beyond Carbon Emissions}},
year = {{2025}},
}