The Effects of Economic Growth, Natural Resource Rent and Renewable Energy Consumpti̇on on the Load Capacity Factor: A Panel Empirical Analysis on Selected Asian Countries

The study aims to examine whether factors such as economic growth, natural resource rents, and renewable energy consumption contribute to increasing the load capacity factor, which indicates greater environmental sustainability in 11 Asian Countries. Data covering the period 1990-2021 was used in the study. Various panel econometric methods were applied in the empirical analyses, including panel cross-section dependence tests, panel slope homogeneity tests, panel second-generation unit root tests, cointegration tests, panel quantile long-run estimation tests, and panel causality tests. The overall results indicate that economic growth, natural resource rents, and renewable energy consumption are environmentally friendly factors that can ensure both economic and environmental sustainability by increasing the load capacity factor. The study also revealed that developed countries can assist developing countries in the panel group in achieving environmental and economic sustainability. Furthermore, the results obtained from the panel causality tests revealed a unidirectional causal relationship from economic growth to the load capacity factor and from the load capacity factor to natural resource rent, and a bidirectional causal relationship between the load capacity factor and renewable energy consumption. The study ends with the evaluation of the general findings.