ENERGY CONSERVATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA: AN INTERACTION EFFECT OF CARBON EMISSION

Abstract

The study examined the interactions among carbon emission, energy conservation and economic development of Nigeria from 1990-2023. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The data was obtained from the World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI). The study used both cleaner energy proxy by electricity consumption and dirty energy proxy by fossil fuel consumptions. The robust regression analysis was used for the analysis. C02 emissions improved the squared GDP per capita hereby refuting the ECK hypothesis. The result showed that higher level of economic activities increases atmospheric C02 emission due to the pivotal place of fossil fuel in driving economic activities. Hence, the paper concludes that the use of cleaner energy reduces carbon emission plays a key role in the drive to attain environmental sustainability. As such, the Nigerian government should invest more on renewable technologies. Also, they should educate the public on the benefits of energy conservation and cleaner energy