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

Abstract

Under the current European Union (EU) constitution approved in May 2018, EU countries ought to guarantee that estimated greenhouse-gas releases from land use, land-use change, or forestry are entirely compensated by an equivalent accounted removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air during the period between 2021 and 2030. This study investigates the effect of sustainable hydropower production on land-use change in the European Union (EU28) region countries during 1990–2018, using the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS). The results revealed that land-use change incline with an increase in hydropower energy production. In addition, economic growth, carbon dioxide emissions, and population density are found to be increasing land-use changes, while institutional quality is found to be decreasing land-use change significantly. The finding implies that land-use change in EU28 region countries can be significantly increased by mounting the amount of hydropower energy production to achieve Energy Union aims by 2030. This will finally be spread to combat climate change and environmental pollution. The findings are considered robust as they were checked with DOLS and pooled OLS. The research suggests that the EU28 countries pay attention to the share of hydropower in their renewable energy combination to minimize carbon releases. Politicians and investors in the EU28 region ought to invest further in the efficiency and sustainability of hydropower generation to increase its production and accessibility without further degradation of forest and agricultural conditions. The authorities of the EU28 region should emphasize on efficiency and sustainability of hydropower energy with land-use management to achieve the international commitments for climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development, reduce dependence on fossil fuel, and energy insecurity.

The Impact of Economic Growth, Population, and Energy Consumption on Environmental Degradation: Evidence from OECD Countries

“…Using a non-parametric approach, the FMOLS method is even more suitable due to its ability to deal with serial correlation problems and endogeneity while considering leads and lags of the independent variables (Ansari et al, 2020;Bhattacharya et al, 2016). The FMOLS method is also more robust and preferred if the variables under review show first-order integration (Alsaleh et al, 2021).…”

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

“…Moreover, Brazil, China and the USA were studied by [68], China and USA in [69], and China, USA, France and Japan by [70]. Continents were also the target of this type of research: Europe was studied by [71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83]. The result obtained by [71] indicates a balance between environmental degradation, economic growth, commercial opening, consumption of renewable and non-renewable energies and fertility rate.…”

Does hydropower growth threaten fish security under the pathway of sustainable development? Evidence from European Union economies

“…Similarly, Bello et al 26 explored the role of hydropower in emerging economies such as Malaysia, indicating that hydroelectricity is found to significantly reduce environmental degradation while urbanization is also not particularly harmful to the environment apart from its effect on air pollution. On the other hand, Alsaleh et al 6 explored the role of hydropower in emerged and emerging economies of the EU, indicating that hydroelectricity is found to significantly increase environmental degradation such as land-use change and water quality.…”

“…Another input of the existing research is the utilization of the originality cross-sectional data estimation approach generated by Stock and Watson 10 and Alsaleh and Abdul-Rahim. 4 Differing from the experiential period sequence and cross-country data tools utilized in previous studies such as the commonly applied panel cointegration model from Phillips and Hansen 11 and Alsaleh et al, 6 the existing investigation utilized the recently modified paradigm, the dynamic panel cointegration method, which interpreted the false impacts of estimators on the dependent factor and reports the multiple problems of the usual panel cointegration model's response and understanding. Finally, this research enhances the works on ecological sustainability by assessing the main relation between hydropower growth and fish supply.…”

“…With its zero-carbon footprint, hydropower can deliver a substantial quantity of renewable zero-carbon electricity, for both base and peak load. 6 Furthermore, hydropower can be of influence in preventing CO 2 releases. Presumptuously, hydropower would be substituted by the existing generation mix, hydropower prevents around 180 million tons (Mt) of CO 2 releases in the EU, corresponding to 15% of overall power industry releases.…”