The effect of renewable energy on carbon dioxide emission in Taiwan: Quantile mediation analysis

In this paper, we propose an integrated method, called quantile mediation analysis, which combines quantile regression and mediation analysis, to examine the impact of renewable energy on carbon dioxide emissions, whether connected to or separate from through economic growth, from 1990 to 2018 in Taiwan. The results of this novel approach indicate that Taiwan's renewable energy did not affect carbon dioxide emissions through the mediation effect of economic growth from the period of 1990 to 2018, and that there is only a direct effect from renewable energy to carbon dioxide emissions at any distribution. Moreover, this result is remarkably different from the result of the traditional ordinary least square approach, which shows that Taiwan‘s renewable energy affects carbon dioxide emissions through the partial mediation effect of economic growth. In conclusion, we suggest that the Taiwanese government should increase the use of renewable energy in reducing local and global carbon dioxide emissions.