Hojat Parsa

The level of pollutant emissions from electricity generation, particularly carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, is heavily dependent on the energy source—namely, whether it is from renewable or non-renewable resources such as coal, oil, and gas. The primary aim of this paper was to study the effect of electricity generation from renewable and non-renewable resources as well as the effect of technological innovations on the carbon dioxide emissions using the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). This study employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach and the Error Correction Model (ECM) for the 1990–2020 period. The results of this research confirm the EKC for Iran and show that the country is close to its turning point. These results also show that, of all factors affecting environmental pollution, economic growth had the highest positive impact on CO2 emissions in Iran, and technological innovation had a positive effect on CO2 emissions in the long run. Production of electricity using renewable resources had a negative but insignificant effect on CO2 emissions, although this variable showed a significant negative impact on the emissions in the short run. This study concludes that achieving ambitious renewable energy development goals requires a comprehensive approach with policy reforms, attracting sustainable investments, and facilitating implementation processes to effectively leverage the country's immense potential.