Renewable energy, financial globalization and load capacity factor in the US: Ecological neutrality in the context of natural resources

Abstract

The United States (US) as the second leading economy in global ecological pollution has become a fertile ground for a rigorous analysis of the ecological neutrality using load capacity factor (LCF) and carbon-based consumption (CCO₂). This is important for the global drive of achieving environmental sustainability by 2050. The LCF is one of the most comprehensive ecological proxies that incorporate the biocapacity and ecological footprint. In this context, this research examines the effect of natural resources, technological innovation, renewable energy and financial globalization on ecological neutrality in the US for the date spanning from 1990 to 2021. Using the novel augmented auto-regressive distributive lag (AARDL) model, the empirical findings of this study indicate that (i) natural resources, renewable energy, and technological innovation promote ecological neutrality by increasing LCF and decreasing CCO₂ emissions; (ii) financial globalization and economic growth mitigate the LCF and increase CCO₂ emissions; and (iii) a causal effect is observed among technological innovation, natural resources, renewable energy, CCO₂ and LCF. In light of the findings, this study recommends several crucial measures for ecological neutrality targets set out in sustainable development goals (SDGs) 7 and 13, respectively.