The Impact of Renewable Energy On Ecological Footprint: The Case Of Turkey

Öz

It is known that developing countries prefer non-renewable energy sources, which are more advantageous, especially in terms of cost and accessibility, in order to achieve their economic growth targets. While these energy resources, which are among the driving forces of economic growth, enable countries to achieve their growth targets, on the other hand, they increase the ecological footprint by causing environmental degradation and are the trigger of global warming by reducing the biological carrying capacity of the planet. Therefore, the use of carbon-neutral renewable energy sources instead of such polluting sources is of vital importance in order to increase environmental quality and prevent global warming by reducing the ecological footprint. At the same time, it is extremely important for energy sustainability that non-renewable energy resources have a certain lifespan, but there is no possibility of exhaustion of renewable energy resources. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of using renewable energy resources on the ecological footprint. In this regard, the 2000-2020 observation interval was taken as a basis for Turkey, which is among the developing countries. The relationship between the variables was investigated with the ARDL bounds test and the Toda Yamamoto causality test. According to the results obtained, the use of renewable energy sources reduces the ecological footprint and increases the biological capacity of the planet.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Ecological Footprint
• Environmental Technology
• Economic Growth
• Financial Development
• Renewable Energy

Yenilenebilir Enerjinin Ekolojik Ayak İzi Üzerine Etkisi: Türkiye Örneği

Öz

Gelişmekte olan ülkelerin ekonomik büyüme hedeflerini gerçekleştirebilmek adına özellikle maliyet ve ulaşabilirlik açısından daha avantajlı olan yenilenemeyen enerji kaynaklarını tercih ettiği bilinmektedir. Ekonomik büyümenin itici güçleri arasında yer alan söz konusu bu enerji kaynakları, bir yandan ülkeleri büyüme hedeflerine ulaştırırken; diğer yandan çevresel bozulmaya neden olarak ekolojik ayak izini artırmakta ve gezegenin biyolojik taşıma kapasitesinin azalmasına neden olarak küresel ısınmanın tetikleyicisi konumunda yer almaktadır. Dolayısıyla bu tip kirletici kaynaklar yerine karbon nötr olan yenilenebilir enerji kaynaklarının kullanılması çevre kalitesinin artırılabilmesi ve ekolojik ayak izinin azaltılarak küresel ısınmanın önüne geçilebilmesi adına hayati önem arz etmektedir. Aynı zamanda yenilenemeyen enerji kaynaklarının belirli bir ömrünün olması, buna karşın yenilenebilir enerji kaynaklarının tükenme ihtimalinin bulunmaması enerji sürdürülebilirliği açısından da son derece önemlidir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, yenilenebilir enerji kaynakları kullanımının ekolojik ayak izi üzerindeki etkisini araştırmaktır. Bu doğrultuda gelişmekte olan ülkeler arasında yer alan Türkiye için 2000-2020 gözlem aralığı baz alınmıştır. Değişkenler arasındaki ilişki ise ARDL sınır testi ve Toda Yamamoto nedensellik testi ile araştırılmıştır. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre yenilenebilir enerji kaynakları kullanımı ekolojik ayak izini azaltırken, gezegenin biyolojik taşıma kapasitesini artırmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Çevresel Teknoloji
• Ekolojik Ayak İzi
• Ekonomik Büyüme
• Finansal Gelişme
• Yenilenebilir Enerji

Kaynakça

1. Acheampong, A. O., Adams, S., & Boateng, E. (2019). Do globalization and renewable energy contribute to carbon emissions mitigation in Sub-Saharan Africa?. Science of the Total Environment, 677, 436-446.
2. Al-Mulali, U., Saboori, B., & Ozturk, I. (2015). Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in Vietnam. Energy policy, 76, 123-131.
3. Al-Mulali, U., Solarin, S. A., & Ozturk, I. (2016). Investigating the presence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Kenya: an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. Natural Hazards, 80, 1729-1747.
4. Ansari, M. A., Haider, S., & Masood, T. (2021). Do renewable energy and globalization enhance ecological footprint: an analysis of top renewable energy countries?. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 6719-6732.
5. Apergis, N., Payne, J. E., Menyah, K., & Wolde-Rufael, Y. (2010). On the causal dynamics between emissions, nuclear energy, renewable energy, and economic growth. Ecological Economics, 69(11), 2255-2260.
6. Bekhet, H. A., & Othman, N. S. (2018). The role of renewable energy to validate dynamic interaction between CO2 emissions and GDP toward sustainable development in Malaysia. Energy economics, 72, 47-61.
7. Bekun, F. V., Alola, A. A., & Sarkodie, S. A. (2019). Toward a sustainable environment: Nexus between CO2 emissions, resource rent, renewable and nonrenewable energy in 16-EU countries. Science of the total Environment, 657, 1023-1029.
8. Cai, Y., Sam, C. Y., & Chang, T. (2018). Nexus between clean energy consumption, economic growth and CO2 emissions. Journal of cleaner production, 182, 1001-1011.

9. Chandio, A. A., Jiang, Y., Ahmad, F., Akram, W., Ali, S., & Rauf, A. (2020). Investigating the long-run interaction between electricity consumption, foreign investment, and economic progress in Pakistan: evidence from VECM approach. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27, 25664-25674.
10. Charfeddine, L., & Kahia, M. (2019). Impact of renewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions and economic growth in the MENA region: a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) analysis. Renewable energy, 139, 198-213.
11. Cheng, C., Ren, X., & Wang, Z. (2019). The impact of renewable energy and innovation on carbon emission: An empirical analysis for OECD countries. Energy Procedia, 158, 3506-3512.
12. Chiu, C. L., & Chang, T. H. (2009). What proportion of renewable energy supplies is needed to initially mitigate CO2 emissions in OECD member countries?. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13(6-7), 1669-1674.
13. de Souza, E. S., Freire, F. D. S., & Pires, J. (2018). Determinants of CO 2 emissions in the MERCOSUR: the role of economic growth, and renewable and non-renewable energy. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 25, 20769-20781.
14. Destek, M. A., & Sinha, A. (2020). Renewable, non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth, trade openness and ecological footprint: Evidence from organisation for economic Co-operation and development countries. Journal of cleaner production, 242, 118537.
15. Dickey, D. A., & Fuller, W. A. (1981). Likelihood ratio statistics for autoregressive time series with a unit root. Econometrica: journal of the Econometric Society, 1057-1072.
16. Ellabban, O., Abu-Rub, H., & Blaabjerg, F. (2014). Renewable energy resources: Current status, future prospects and their enabling technology. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 39, 748-764.
17. Energy information Administration (2013) future world energy demand driven by trends in developing countries. Retrieved from https:// www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=14011
18. Jin, T., & Kim, J. (2018). What is better for mitigating carbon emissions–Renewable energy or nuclear energy? A panel data analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 91, 464-471.
19. Khatami, F., & Goharian, E. (2022). Beyond Profitable Shifts to Green Energies, towards Energy Sustainability. Sustainability, 14(8), 4506.
20. Koengkan, M., & Fuinhas, J. A. (2020). Exploring the effect of the renewable energy transition on CO2 emissions of Latin American & Caribbean countries. International Journal of Sustainable Energy, 39(6), 515-538.
21. Raza, A., Habib, Y., & Hashmi, S. H. (2023). Impact of technological innovation and renewable energy on ecological footprint in G20 countries: The moderating role of institutional quality. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(42), 95376-95393.
22. Sahoo, M., & Sethi, N. (2021). The intermittent effects of renewable energy on ecological footprint: evidence from developing countries. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(40), 56401-56417.
23. Sharif, A., Baris-Tuzemen, O., Uzuner, G., Ozturk, I., & Sinha, A. (2020). Revisiting the role of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on Turkey’s ecological footprint: Evidence from Quantile ARDL approach. Sustainable cities and society, 57, 102138.
24. Sharma, R., Sinha, A., & Kautish, P. (2021). Does renewable energy consumption reduce ecological footprint? Evidence from eight developing countries of Asia. Journal of Cleaner Production, 285, 124867.
25. Toda, H. Y., & Yamamoto, T. (1995). Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated processes. Journal of econometrics, 66(1-2), 225-250.
26. Wolde-Rufael, Y., & Weldemeskel, E. M. (2020). Environmental policy stringency, renewable energy consumption and CO2 emissions: Panel cointegration analysis for BRIICTS countries. International Journal of Green Energy, 17(10), 568-582.
27. Yılancı, V., & Özcan, B. (2010). Yapısal kırılmalar altında Türkiye için savunma harcamaları ile GSMH arasındaki ilişkinin analizi. CÜ İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Dergisi, 11(1), 21-33.