Theses and Dissertations

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations by Author "Hompashez, D"

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    The impact of transport energy consumption and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions in South Africa
    (University of Fort Hare, 2025-05-29) Pupane, Ezile; Hompashez, D; Mjacu, L
    The main goal of this study was to assess the influence of transport-related energy consumption and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions in the South African context. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions come from the combustion of energy and can trap excess heat from the sun entering the Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in climate change. Energy use from fossil fuels has been highlighted as a key source of environmental pollution, and the transportation industry relies on energy more than any other sector. Social development and economic growth require energy as an input to a variety of economic production activities, and higher economic activity levels are frequently complemented by increased resource and energy consumption. This study aims to clarify how transport energy use and economic growth affect CO2 emissions using time series data from 1990 to 2021. Recognizing the association amongst these variables is critical to ensuring stability in climate. The investigation was made using the vector autoregressive model and the vector error correction model to determine short-run and long-run relationships between the variables of the study. The study shows that transportation energy consumption exhibits a positive correlation with CO2 emissions in both the short term and the long term within South Africa during the analysed timeframe. The results also validate the existence of the Brundtland Curve hypothesis. According to the Brundtland curve hypothesis, developing countries such as South Africa inflict considerable environmental harm because of their inability to embrace environmental welfare. Given this study's results of a positive correlation, it is imperative for governmental intervention to be enacted to mitigate CO2 emissions. The issue of CO2 emissions linked to rising energy consumption is significant and needs coordinated and comprehensive solutions. Also, as the economy develops, the government should invest more in programmes that seek to improve environmental degradation.