Dependence of public health on energy consumption: a cross-regional analysis

Abstract

The authors test the hypothesis that there is a link between the consumption of non-renewable resources of the leading economies in the European region in terms of value-added industry and health. They performed a ranking correlation analysis on key indicators of population health and volumes of consumption of renewable and non-renewable resources in individual countries. The researchers assumed a slight relationship between the rate of healthy years of life and the production of renewable energy resources, making a positive contribution to the country’s environmental situation. Among the compared countries, those characterized by high consumption of primary energy resources are proportionally more productive and renewable energy resources. The analysis shows that differences in the health indicators of the regions’ population cause other more important factors than the studied ones. Some dependencies can be seen in analyzing the causes of death among the population of countries, for example, by cardiovascular diseases. The risk factor for this illness is air pollution caused by excessive consumption of non-renewable energy resources. The authors recommend considering the indicator of ecological footprint in the ratings of life quality in the regions. Compared to countries with lower welfare rankings, this parameter is too high for leaders. Under investigation, the authors considered the x3 weight for the health indicator in the Legatum Prosperity Index.