The network relations among waste-to-energy, socio-economic, and environmental dimensions. Will WTE be the factor that determines the transformation of all dimensions?

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between WTE and representative factors in the social, economic, and environmental dimensions in the EU-28 sample group in which many countries have begun implementing more practical energy efficiency measures using the Granger causality test and the network analysis. The study found that the change in the amount of energy produced from waste (WTE) caused a negative change at 0.179%, 0.029%, and 0.098% in the final energy consumption in the household, industry, and services sectors and resulted in a positive change at 0.025 in the factor of Environmental Tax Revenue. In a networked relationship of socio, economic, and environmental variables, it was found that the amount of energy received from waste processing (WTE) is most affected when other factors change.

Keywords

• Waste-to-energy
• Granger causality test
• Network analysis