Effectiveness of nuclear and renewable electricity generation on CO2 emissions: Daily-based analysis for the major nuclear power generating countries

Kartal M. T., PATA U. K., Depren Ö., ERDOĞAN S.

Journal of Cleaner Production, cilt.426, 2023 (SCI-Expanded) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 426
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.139121
  • Dergi Adı: Journal of Cleaner Production
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Aerospace Database, Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, CAB Abstracts, Chimica, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, INSPEC, Metadex, Pollution Abstracts, Public Affairs Index, Veterinary Science Database, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: CO2 emissions, Non-linear approaches, Nuclear electricity, Renewable electricity, Top nuclear countries
  • Hatay Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Meeting energy needs and ensuring ecological sustainability are important tasks for policymakers. In particular, changing the energy mix used in daily electricity generation can have a major effect on ecological conditions, and this is a previously neglected research topic. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the influence of daily electricity generation from nuclear power and renewables on the achievement of carbon neutrality targets in the four largest nuclear power countries (i.e., the U.S., China, France, and Russia). The study applies the wavelet-transform coherence (WTC), quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR), and Granger causality in quantiles (GCQ) approaches for the period from January 2, 2019 to December 29, 2022. The outcomes present that electricity generation from nuclear energy reduces carbon (CO2) emissions only in Russia, while hydropower generation does not contribute to CO2 emission reduction in any country. Solar electricity generation decreases CO2 emissions in different quantiles in the U.S. and Russia, while electricity generation from wind power reduces CO2 emissions in the U.S. and France. The empirical outcomes also reveal that expanding solar, wind, and nuclear power in the energy mix can enhance the potential of the U.S., France, and Russia to achieve carbon neutrality and secure a sustainable future. However, China is using nuclear and renewables inefficiently regarding carbon neutrality. Therefore, the empirical evidence for China is highly controversial compared to former studies.