The relationship between energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and meteorological factors in Sfax (Tunisia): an ARDL bounds testing approach

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe current analysis investigates the impact of energy consumption (EC) on environmental quality in the urban area of Sfax, Tunisia. First, we use electricity EC as a proxy for EC. Second, as an indicator of the degradation of the environmental quality, we use the following air pollutants: nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and suspended particulates in the air having a diameter less than 10 micrometers (PM10). We also analyse the influence of meteorological factors expressed by the temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) on the dispersion of pollutants and their concentration in the atmosphere. We apply the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. We find that EC stimulates the degradation of the environment; indeed, it leads to the amount of PM10 in the atmosphere. Conversely, findings reveal that the increase of EC is associated with a decrease in the amount of SO2, NO2 and O3. Additionally, meteorological factors, especially T and RH, affect the dispersion of pollutants and their accumulation around their emission sources.