The Impact of Renewable Energy Use on Economic and Environmental Performance: A Panel Data Analysis for Selected Emerging Economies

The research investigates how renewable energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, and economic performance interact with each other in selected emerging countries through annual panel data, which includes 22 nations from 1990 to 2022. The research structure uses two equations to simultaneously model economic growth and CO₂ emission rates. The main study elements include renewable energy usage, CO₂ emission levels, and GDP per capita, which researchers studied together with trade openness, foreign direct investments, urban development, industrial production, and energy usage as control variables. The research employs two estimation methods, which are Fixed Effects and Random Effects, together with System Generalized Method of Moments (System GMM) to solve problems related to endogeneity and dynamic persistence. The study demonstrates that developing nations experience economic growth benefits from both renewable energy usage and reduced CO₂ emissions as a result. The research shows that increased carbon emissions create an economic development barrier. The research result also demonstrates that renewable energy functions as a principal factor that drives sustainable economic development and environmental progress in selected emerging economies.