Abstract:

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between population density, renewable energy consumption, financial development, income and carbon (CO2) emissions in Turkey covering the period from 1981 to 2014 within the framework of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The estimated long-term coefficients obtained by the ARDL bounds testing approach show that population density, financial development and economic growth increase CO2 emissions while alternative energy consumption have a positive effect on environment quality. The results of this study also indicate that EKC hypothesis is valid for Turkey. However, the turning point determined as $12.421 is above the highest per-capita gross domestic product (GDP) level in the analysis period. Therefore, income level rises CO2 emissions continues to increase in Turkey. Non-carbohydrate energy consumption, used as a measure of renewable energy consumption, may be an alternative solution to reducing CO2 emissions for Turkey.

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