Do public-private partnerships in energy and renewable energy consumption matter for consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions in India?

The present study explores the effect of renewable energy consumption and public-private partnership investment in energy on consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions for India from 1990Q1 and 2015Q4 whilst controlling technology innovation and economic growth. The study employs the Maki cointegration, Bayer-Hanck cointegration, fully modified ordinary least squares, dynamic ordinary least squares, and frequency-domain causality tests to explore these dynamics. The outcomes of the present study reveal that (i) there is a long-run cointegration equation between consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions and its possible determinants; (ii) whilst renewable energy consumption is beneficial for lowering consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions, public-private partnership investment in energy makes a positive contribution to consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions in the long-run; and (iii) public-private partnership investment in energy and renewable energy consumption also significantly causes consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions at different frequency levels in India. The present study recommends that policymakers in India should apply a series of policies to discourage the use of non-renewable energy and raise the share of renewable energy in order to reduce consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions in the country. The present study also recommends that public-private partnership investment in renewable energy should increase to achieve cleaner production processes.