Land-Use Change Impacts from Sustainable Hydropower Production in EU28 Region: An Empirical Analysis

Evolution and future prospects of hydropower sector in Nepal: A review

Nepal is one of the pioneers of hydropower development among Asian countries. The plethora of fast-flowing rivers provides immense potential for hydropower generation. However, Nepal still lacks a clear blueprint for the overall development and management of this sector. This paper aims to review the evolution of hydropower development, future prospects and roadblocks to hydropower development. With the growing energy demands projected to reach as high as 41,264.82 Gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2030 and 115,294.4 GWh in 2040 under different scenarios, this paper highlights the huge prospects the sector holds. It also proposes a focus on storage-type hydropower plants and concepts of energy banking to address the incipient condition of seasonal energy mismatch in the country, which has developed a condition of energy shortage during the winter and energy surplus during the monsoon. Moreover, projected changes in hydro-climatic extremes under the climate change scenarios is likely to affect water availability and subsequently the energy production in the majority of hydropower projects. Thus, this review can serve as a guideline to help understand the current scenario and make rational decisions and policies for the future management of the hydropower sector of the country.

A revisit to the relationship between geothermal energy growth and underground water quality in EU economies

This study's main goal is to evaluate how the research will look at the impact of geothermal energy production on the quality of the subterranean in the 27 European nations from 1990 to 2021. A considerable decline in the subterranean water supply can occur in EU14 emerging nations employing geothermal energy growth compared to EU13 emerging economies, according to research that uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL). Fossil fuel use, population growth, and economic expansion are some factors that have a more detrimental effect on the subterranean water supply in EU14 emerging economies than in EU13 emerging nations. In contrast, the study's findings indicate that EU13 emerging nations may be better able to enhance their underground water supply than EU14 emerging economies because of more effective institutional qualities. The findings so indicate that increasing the amount of geothermal energy generation among the 27 European Union countries can accelerate subsurface water degradation at a high capacity and help achieve unionism's 2030 energy-related goals. When this is achieved, climate change will be put to check, as pollution of the environment. All calculations projected were seen to be of a good level of validity, and this is ascertained through three estimators considered in this study.

Examining the Energy-Environmental Kuznets Curve in OECD Countries Considering their Population

This research aims to examine the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in 37 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the period from 1960 to 2019. Panel Quantile Regressions (QR) show that for the lower quartile, economic growth does not impact emissions; for the central quartile a U-shaped curve emerges; while for the upper quartile, an N-shaped curve is found. In addition, cointegrating regressions highlight that economic growth, fossil fuel consumption, and population exert a detrimental effect on the environment, while renewable energy consumption reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. These results are confirmed by panel causality tests since a feedback mechanism is found between CO2 emissions and the remaining series. Furthermore, single-country estimates provide evidence of great variability in the sample.

Toward a sustainable environment: nexus between geothermal energy growth and land use change in EU economies

There are many advantages of geothermal energy as an environmentally friendly resource; however, there are quite a several challenges that need to be overcome to completely harness sustainable and renewable energy that is also natural. The primary aim of this study is to examine what influence geothermal energy will have on land use changes among the considered 27 states in the European Union from the time being 1990 to 2021. The study adopts the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL); the findings show that geothermal energy growth could be leveraged to achieve remarkable growth in land use change among the 13 European developing economies than among the 14 EU developed economies. On the other hand, results from analysis further show that a remarkable decrease in land use change could be better attained among the 14 EU developed economies that among the 13 EU developing economies as a result of institutional quality. Furthermore, the result suggests that through economic growth, there could be a remarkable increase in land use change among the 14 EU developed economies than among the 13 EU developing economies. It was further revealed by the study that the level of land use change among the 27 EU nations could be remarkably increased, boosting the level of geothermal energy production that will assist in attaining the aims behind the 2030 energy union. This will eventually help in curbing the incidence of climate change and pollution in the environment; the projected calculations are observed to be valid, as confirmed through the chosen three estimators for this research. The chosen estimators are the pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect. The regulations and governors in 27 European Union countries should give priority to using geothermal in their renewable energy mix to reduce the incidence of changes in land structures. Also, an increased level of efficiency and effectiveness should be made to the generation of geothermal energy by state actors and investors to prompt sustainability and attainability with no further depreciation in agricultural and forest natural states.

Unveiling the impacts of geothermal energy growth on food security in EU27 region: an empirical analysis

There are many advantages of geothermal energy, as an environmental friend resource. This heat radiation emanating from beneath the earth's surface presents man with good opportunities to harness it and makes a good level of agricultural food production and its processing in the EU region. The primary objective of this research is to examine the impact of geothermal energy on agri-food supply among the 27 European countries (EU27), within the time frame 1990 to 2021. The study adopted the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), and the findings from this study revealed that agri-food supply can increase significantly among the 13 European countries (EU13 emerging economies), leveraging on geothermal energy and economic growth variables than in the EU14 emerged economies. Furthermore, the outcome of this study showed that there could be a significant decrease in the food products coming from agricultural practices among the 13 European countries (EU13 emerging economies), due to an ineffective population density than in EU14 emerged economies. Furthermore, fossil fuel and institutional quality contribute more positively to the agri-food supply in the EU14 emerged economies than in the EU13 emerging economies. This results in an outcome that means that the agri-food supply among the EU13 emerging economies could be greatly boosted by replacing fossil fuel consumption with geothermal energy, and this facilitates the attainment of the European energy goals by the year 2030. Substituting fossil fuels with geothermal will also assist in minimizing the risks of environmental pollution and climate change. All projected calculations were seen as valid in this study, and this was confirmed by the three estimators adopted which are the pooled mean group, the mean group, and the dynamic fixed effect. This study, therefore, recommends that the 27 European countries should lay more emphasis on geothermal energy production as this will help in ensuring food security in the region. Policymakers and other government authorities as well as local and foreign investors should make more investments in geothermal energy resources as this study has proven that this will lead to agri-food security and sustainability. Not only this, it will as well curb the incidence of climate change and environmental pollution.

Does hydropower production influence agriculture industry growth to achieve sustainable development in the EU economies?

There are many advantages of the hydropower industry, as an environmentally friendly resource, and also some challenges that need to be overcome to fully exploit this sustainable and renewable natural resource. The primary objective of this study is to find out the impact of hydropower factors and economic growth on the agriculture industry output among the EU27 nations within the time factor 1990 to 2021. Adopting the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), the findings show a significant positive effect could occur in agriculture industry growth of the European Union (EU13)-emerging economies using hydropower factors than in EU14-emerged economies. On one hand, among additional factors, economic growth and institutional quality contribute more positively to agriculture growth in EU13 economies than in EU14 economies. On the other hand, population density contributes more negatively to agriculture growth in EU13 economies than in EU14 economies. The findings show there can be a positive significant growth increase in the EU13 agriculture industry using fossil fuel output than in EU14 economies. The results show that growth could be sustained in the agricultural industry of the European nations by increasing the level of hydropower production as this will help in attaining sustainable development by the year 2030. This will therefore help in mitigating the effect of climatic changes due to environmental pollution. The projected calculations were seen to be reliable and valid and this was attested to by the three estimators used in the study (pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect). This study recommended that European nations could leverage hydroelectricity to achieve sustainable growth and development. The legislative arms of the government of these European nations should as well show more interest in green energy to achieve security and sustainable development in hydroelectricity production. Decision-makers in the EU nations should buttress more emphasis on sustainable means through which hydropower could be used to attain sustainable irrigation systems for the agriculture industry and thus minimize the demand for fossil fuels and reduce CO2-related emissions in the future tine ahead.

Renewable Energy, Economic Growth and Economic Development Nexus: A Bibliometric Analysis

The present research aims to conduct a systemic review on Renewable Energy, Economic Growth and Economic Development and look for links between the papers published between 2008 and May 2021. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology, it was possible to reach a sample of 111 articles selected by Web of Science and a sample of 199 academic articles selected by Scopus in that specific period. The analysis of the group of Renewable and Non-renewable Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and Economic Development shows that most of the articles published in this subsample use the quantitative methodology in economic sciences. The results indicate that research on the subject has a growing trend and that most of the articles are post-2015 publications. In addition, China has been the leading nation in published works. The journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is considered the most relevant in this category, and Sustainability has the most publications. Finally, a research gap was identified to be explored, lacking studies aimed at understanding the consumption of renewable energies and economic development and studies that focus on renewable energies and economic growth in less developed economies.