The Impact of Fossil Fuels, Renewable Energy, and Nuclear Energy on South Korea’s Environment Based on the STIRPAT Model: ARDL, FMOLS, and CCR Approaches

Abstract

This study intends to shed light on the environmental impacts of energy decisions in South Korea by analyzing the correlation between energy consumption patterns and environmental indicators such as carbon dioxide emissions. In 2021, global CO2 emissions increased by 6%—to the highest ever level of 36.3 billion tons—according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). This increase in CO2 emissions is a big problem for all countries around the world. The aim of this article is an analyze the impact of fossil fuels, renewable energy, and nuclear energy on South Korea’s environment based on the STIRPAT (stochastic impact by regression on population, affluence, and technology) model. Exploring the intricate nexus between economic and energy indicators and environmental outcomes, this study employs the STIRPAT model to analyze the influence of GDP, population dynamics, fossil fuels, renewable energy, and nuclear energy on South Korea’s environment. The yearly data from 1972 to 2021 are analyzed in this paper using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The reliability of this study is also examined by employing FMOLS (fully modified ordinary least squares) and CCR (canonical cointegrating regression) estimators. This study confirms the findings of previous research by showing that the rising South Korea GDP and population can lead to higher CO2 emissions and that a strategy switching to renewable energy can cut down on CO2 emissions in Korea, as it exhibits a coefficient of −0.085 *. The robustness results of FMOLS and CCR’s findings support baseline ARDL findings.