Investigation of the Nexus Between the Electricity Consumption and the Ecological Footprint

Among the footprint, the ecological footprint has been accepted as one of the most comprehensive indexes to indicate the human demand for natural resources. Within this scope, the world encounters a massive challenge consisting of sharp rising energy demand, environmental degradation, and sustainability. The electricity demand is a prime indicator reflected in production, urbanization, and consumption patterns. However, fossil sources predominantly generate electricity, which contributes to environmental degradation. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the causality link between the electricity consumption and the ecological footprint in emerging countries. Within this aim, Panel VAR Granger Causality analysis is performed on data for 1971–2014. The study’s objective is to provide insight into the policymakers to guide the energy management policies. The samples are selected from important emerging countries: Turkey, China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Mexico. The considered samples are that the urbanizations, higher populations, and the industrialization efforts for achieving higher economic welfare have a vital matter for the considered countries. The electricity consumption is directly related to all mentioned events. According to the findings, it is found that electricity consumption is the cause of the ecological footprint. As can be understood from the above-mentioned issues, the use of fossil fuels causes significant damage to the environment. In this context, it is necessary to consider different alternatives in energy use. In this context, it is important to increase investments in renewable energy and nuclear energy, which are considered clean energy. It is important to make technological investments for the development of renewable energy projects. In this way, it will be possible to reduce the initial costs of these projects. As a result, renewable energy projects will become competitive with fossil fuels. It is of vital importance to take some measures to prevent the risk of explosion in nuclear power plants. In this context, it is necessary to prevent this risk by using new technologies. On the other hand, radioactive wastes occur as a result of energy production in nuclear power plants. These wastes need to be disposed of effectively. In this process, effective disposal methods need to be considered. Otherwise, nuclear energy investments will become quite inefficient.