The relationship between energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and meteorological factors in Sfax (Tunisia): an ARDL bounds testing approach
Résumé
The current analysis investigates the impact of energy consumption (EC) on
environmental quality in the urban area of Sfax, Tunisia. First, we use
electricity EC as a proxy for EC. Second, as an indicator of the degradation
of the environmental quality, we use the following air pollutants: nitrogen
dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and suspended particulates
in the air having a diameter less than 10 micrometers (PM10). We also
analyse the influence of meteorological factors expressed by the
temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) on the dispersion of pollutants
and their concentration in the atmosphere. We apply the autoregressive
distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. We find that EC stimulates
the degradation of the environment; indeed, it leads to the amount of PM10
in the atmosphere. Conversely, findings reveal that the increase of EC is
associated with a decrease in the amount of SO2, NO2 and O3. Additionally,
meteorological factors, especially T and RH, affect the dispersion of
pollutants and their accumulation around their emission sources.