**8. Conclusion**

This chapter is centred round the interaction between economic growth and its main drivers, focusing mainly on the effect of each energy source, distinguishing between traditional sources and renewables. We go on to shed some light on the relevance of developing the use of renewables in the energy mix and on their consequences in relation to economic growth. To do so, we apply panel data techniques to a set of EU 21 Members, for the time span 1990-2007. Overall, the results prove to be consistent and the use of the Panel Corrected Standard Errors estimator seems to be suitable, matching the data properties.

Both energy dependency and volatility have contributed negatively to economic growth. Conventional wisdom indicates that the use of energy generated from renewable sources can contribute both to reducing this dependency and to reducing volatility. Renewable energy is produced locally and thus contributes to energy self-sufficiency. Meanwhile, the contracts for generation from renewables are generally medium to long term, which are characterised by lower uncertainty as to price behaviour. The results suggest, however, that renewables are also hampering economic growth, in the period and for the countries analysed. This chapter discusses extensively the possible reasons for this effect caused by renewables. It is confirmed that the traditional sources of energy have been real engines of economic growth, although the role played by each of these sources is not homogeneous. Among the fossil fuels, oil has played a key role in the process of economic growth.

On a daily basis, we use renewables without noticing. Accordingly, we directly make use of renewable energy in its natural state, such as it is available on Earth, like in water heating, lighting or heating our homes. This generous contribution from nature, however, is usually absent from the statistics. With regard to the use of technology for conversion of renewable energy into usable energy, mainly from sun and wind, the conclusions are dissimilar. Using the statistics, we find that the share of renewables in total energy supply is not having the desired effect, as far as economic growth and wealth creation are concerned. Ultimately, with the current state of affairs, the decision to invest in renewable energy remains essentially political.
