A Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach in Exploring the Nexus Between Wind and Solar Energy Generation, Economic Development, Fossil Fuel Consumption, and CO2 Emissions

Ayesha Mumtaz,Zhang Jianglin,Shazia Rehman,Erum Rehman

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2021.819384

Abstract

Environmental degradation has been identified as a major worldwide concern in recent decades, with CO2 emissions considered as one of the primary drivers of this catastrophe. This study creatively analyzes the underlying impact of wind and solar energy generation, economic development, fossil fuel consumption on CO2 emissions to mitigate the environmental degradation in the world’s top three largest energy consumers and CO2 emitters nations namely, China, India, and the USA. To investigate the integrated impact of CO2 emission, a grey relational analysis (GRA) technique is adopted for the year 1990–2017. The Grey technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (G-TOPSIS) technique was employed for further optimization by prioritizing the explanatory factors that have potential influence on CO2 emissions in the selected nations. The outcomes through the GRA technique discovered that India is a major contributor of carbon emission caused by economic development, and China appeared to be the more afflicted nation for raising its carbon emissions owing to fossil fuel consumption. Whereas, the generation of solar and wind energy are grounded factors in the reduction of carbon emissions for China and the USA. In addition, the generation of wind energy showed a considerable impact in the reduction of CO2 emissions, based on the G-TOPSIS analysis. This suggests that reducing CO2 emissions would require a compendious transition from nonrenewable to renewable resources, while the United States and China appear to be on a more promising direction to environmental sustainability than India. As a growing renewable energy pioneer, India should increase the utilization of minimal carbon sources of energy in its electricity grid while limiting its reliance on fossil fuels. The findings of the study potentially aid governments and policymakers in making better decisions and investments to mitigate CO2 emissions while fostering a more environmentally friendly atmosphere.

Highlights

Fossil fuel combustion is widely regarded as a major contributor to climate change and global warming because carbon dioxide is emitted directly into the atmosphere, which causes global warming (IPCC Working Group et al, 2013)
The present research utilized grey relational techniques to estimate the degree of proximity between solar energy generation, wind energy generation, economic growth, fossil fuels consumption, and carbon (CO2) emissions among China, India, and the USA for the years 1990–2017
In terms of environmental degradation, the most important environmental challenge confronting the globe today is climate change, with over usage of conventional fossil fuels regarded as the root cause of the problem

Summary

Introduction

Fossil fuel combustion is widely regarded as a major contributor to climate change and global warming because carbon dioxide is emitted directly into the atmosphere, which causes global warming (IPCC Working Group et al, 2013) This is a growing source of concern. India, China, and the United States are the world’s top three black coal producers with 765 million tons, 3,683 million tons, and 685 million tons of coal in 2018 respectively (BSPR, 2018) Such economies continue to rely heavily on fossil fuels for energy for generating electricity, their energy decisions have a significant impact on global GHG emissions (Mahmoodi, 2017; Farhani et al, 2014; Khan et al, 2021). Unless substantial changes are made, emissions from India, China, and the United States are projected to continue to cause global warming, despite the fact that other parts of the globe are alarmed about the issue (Nathaniel and Iheonu, 2019; Rehman et al, 2019)

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