The roles of nuclear energy, renewable energy, and economic growth in the abatement of carbon dioxide emissions in the G7 countries

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 28; no. 35; pp. 47957 - 47972
• Main Authors: Nathaniel, Solomon Prince, Alam, Md. Shabbir, Murshed, Muntasir, Mahmood, Haider, Ahmad, Paiman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-09-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Carbon sources; Climate change; Complementarity; Earth and Environmental Science; Econometrics; Economic analysis; Economic development; Economic growth; Economics; Ecotoxicology; Emission; Emissions; Energy consumption; Energy policy; Energy resources; Energy security; Energy sources; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Kuznets curve; Environmental quality; Environmental science; Fossil fuels; Heterogeneity; Hypotheses; Industrialized nations; Nations; Nuclear energy; Nuclear fuels; Nuclear reactors; Renewable energy; Renewable resources; Research Article; Sustainable development; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; France; Canada; United States > US; G7; Nuclear energy; Renewable energy; Cross-sectional dependency; Economic growth; CO; emissions; CO2 emissions
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-13728-6

In the current century, the G7 countries have attached more importance to energy security, and have prioritized low-carbon sources which have necessitated the consumption of nuclear and renewable energy resources to achieve a resilient low-carbon system. However, it is still not clear if the sacrifice has paid-off since the environmental quality in the majority of these countries is yet to be significantly improved. As such, this study employs advanced panel data econometric techniques that account for cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity issues to explore the impacts of nuclear and renewable energy use in respect of CO
2
emission mitigation in six of the seven G7 countries. The core objective of this study is to justify whether energy diversification through the promotion of nuclear and renewable energy consumption can assist the G7 nations in complying with their commitments concerning the Paris Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals agendas. The overall findings from the econometric analysis affirm the abating role of nuclear energy on CO
2
emissions. However, renewable energy consumption is found to be statistically insignificant in explaining the variations in the CO
2
emission levels. On the other hand, economic growth is found to initially boost the CO
2
emission level but mitigate it later on; thus, the authenticity of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is established in the G7 context. Besides, the country-specific results suggest that nuclear energy significantly reduces CO
2
emissions in all the countries, except in Canada and the USA. Also, renewable energy significantly curbs CO
2
emissions only in Canada and France. Furthermore, the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is validated for Canada, France, the UK, and the USA. In line with these findings, it is pertinent for the G7 countries to boost nuclear energy use to reduce the fossil fuel dependency in the majority of the G7 nations to mitigate CO
2
emissions. Moreover, it is also suggested that these nations adopt relevant policies to further green their consumption and production processes to ensure complementarity between economic growth and environmental development.