Are clean energy and carbon emission allowances caused by bitcoin? A novel time-varying method

Abstract

The bitcoin market has substantially grown in recent years. The researchers are exploring its various repercussions for socioeconomic and political matters; however, the literature still lacks clear evidence on how bitcoin interacts with energy and the environment. This study aims to explore the causal relationship between bitcoin, clean energy, and carbon emissions allowances by applying the novel time-varying Granger causality test on the daily data spanning from Sept 17, 2014, to October 12, 2021. The empirical findings confirm that both clean energy and emission allowances are causally associated with bitcoin. However, this causal relationship varies over time and the duration of causality is longer as suggested by the recursive evolving procedure. The outcome is robust when bitcoin is measured by the volume and the price. Furthermore, the results obtained from robustness analysis conducted through heteroskedastic consistent test also validate the findings that bitcoin causes clean energy and carbon allowance. The findings offer a platform for government officials and policy managers to improve clean energy and carbon allowance markets for sustainable development by managing and using the tools to control and regulate cryptocurrency markets.