Does nuclear energy reduce carbon emissions despite using fuels and chemicals? Transition to clean energy and finance for green solutions

Abstract

Green power conversion is the shift away from traditional fuels towards clean energy sources such as nuclear power plants, hydroelectric dams, wind farms, and solar panels. This research examines the impact of clean energy demand and green financing on reducing carbon emissions in 29 economies in Europe and Asia from 2007 to 2020. The study used a two-step differenced GMM estimator for the available data set spanning 2007 to 2020. The study found that rising demand for nuclear power helps to achieve a carbon-neutral agenda, but insufficient funding for renewable energy leads to higher carbon emissions. The research suggests increasing investment in nuclear energy and green financing can improve regional environmental quality. The study found a causal link between fuel imports, nuclear power and regional growth. It also determined that fuel imports, chemical use, green financing and the need for nuclear energy will likely impact regional environmental quality. The research recommends allocating more resources toward innovation to boost energy efficiency and expanding investment in renewable and nuclear energy production industries via green finance. The study also highlights the need to encourage the development of renewable energy sources to cut carbon emissions and establish a sustainable society.

Keywords

Nuclear energy / Renewable energy / Green financing / Fuel imports / Chemical use / Differenced GMM estimator

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Muhammad Imran: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing – review & editing. Khalid Zaman: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing – review & editing. Abdelmohsen A. Nassani: Supervision, Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing – review & editing. Gheorghița Dincă: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing – review & editing. Haroon ur Rashid Khan: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Validation, Writing – review & editing. Mohamed Haffar: Formal analysis, Investigation, Visualization, Data curation, Validation, Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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