Geothermal energy and carbon emissions nexus in leading geothermal-consuming nations: Evidence from nonparametric analysis

Abstract

The pursuit of decarbonization has created an awareness globally in relation to geothermal energy, either for electricity generation or direct usage, since fuel combustion is not needed. Premised on this intriguing detail, this present research scrutinizes the impact of geothermal energy on CO₂ emissions in the top seven geothermal energy-consuming nations. Using the quarterly dataset of geothermal and CO₂ emissions stretching over the period between 1990 and 2019. The quantile-on-quantile (QQ) approach, which considers the conventional quantile analysis and nonparametric, is utilized in this research to provide more accurate and robust estimations. Furthermore, the QQ approach differentiates the impacts of geothermal energy on CO₂ emissions into three quantiles: upper, medium, and lower. Additionally, the nonparametric causality-in-quantiles is used to evaluate the causation in quantiles between geothermal and CO₂ emissions. From the outcomes of the QQ approach, we discovered that in several quantiles, geothermal energy mitigates environmental deterioration, wherein CO₂ emission is reduced in Italy, Mexico, and New Zealand. However, geothermal energy boosts CO₂ emissions in India, the USA, Turkey, and the Philippines. Furthermore, the nonparametric causality-in-quantiles discovered that geothermal energy predicts CO₂ emissions in all nations.