Exploring the Impact of GDP, Population, and Area on Renewable Energy Capacity Across Countries

Authors

  • Shah Ikthiar Alam Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.
  • Mirza Lakitul Bari Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.
  • Syed Salman Saeed Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.
  • Md. Tanvir Siraj * Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2303-8151

https://doi.org/10.22105/jeee.v2i2.54

Abstract

As fossil fuels become scarcer and concerns about pollution grow, renewables offer a practical solution by cutting greenhouse gas emissions and supporting sustainable growth. In line with Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), this study looks at factors that affect renewable energy capacity across 193 countries, focusing on how renewable capacity relates to a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), population size, and area. Using a quantitative correlational approach, data were gathered from the World Bank, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and Worldometer to ensure reliability. The dataset was prepared through extensive data cleaning, transformation, and integration processes using Python, with the Pearson correlation coefficient applied for statistical analysis. Choropleth maps illustrating different descriptive statistics provided a visual dimension to the analysis, showcasing patterns across countries. Findings indicate strong correlations between GDP and population size with renewable energy capacity (r = 0.76, p < 0.0001 for both), suggesting that higher economic resources and population-driven demand significantly influence renewable capacity. Total area showed a moderate correlation (r = 0.50, p < 0.0001), reflecting that larger countries may have some advantage in hosting renewable infrastructure, though less so than GDP and population size. This study is novel in its detailed look at how economic, population, and land factors together affect renewable energy capacity. These findings offer helpful guidance for policymakers in countries with lower capacity, encouraging smart investments and decisions to improve fair access to renewable energy and support global sustainability goals.

Keywords:

Renewable energy, Gross domestic product, Population, Area, Pearson correlation coefficient

References

  1. [1] IEA. (2024). Renewables 2024: Executive summary. https://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2024/executive-summary
  2. [2] Finkelman, R. B., Wolfe, A., & Hendryx, M. S. (2021). The future environmental and health impacts of coal. Energy geoscience, 2(2), 99–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engeos.2020.11.001
  3. [3] Siraj, M. T., Huda, M. N., Sarkar, A. S., Hoque Fakir, M. R., Hasan, M. K., Nazim, A. I., ... & Kabir, M. A. (2024). Towards sustainable energy transitions: Ranking lower-middle-income economies on the accessibility to affordable and clean energy. Environmental engineering & management journal (EEMJ), 23(3), 487–501. https://B2n.ir/xs7494
  4. [4] Debnath, B., Shakur, M. S., Siraj, M. T., Bari, A. B. M. M., & Islam, A. R. M. T. (2023). Analyzing the factors influencing the wind energy adoption in Bangladesh: A pathway to sustainability for emerging economies. Energy strategy reviews, 50, 101265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2023.101265
  5. [5] Siraj, M. T., Hossain, M. T., Ahmed, S. F., & Payel, S. B. (2022). Analyzing challenges to utilizing renewable energy in the context of developing countries: Policymaking implications for achieving sustainable development goals [presentation]. Proceedings of the first australian international conference on industrial engineering and operations management, sydney, australia (pp. 20–21). https://doi.org/10.46254/AU01.20220422
  6. [6] Payel, S. B., Ahmed, S. M. F., Anam, M. Z., & Siraj, M. T. (2023). Exploring the barriers to implementing solar energy in an emerging economy:implications for sustainability [presentation]. Proceedings of the international conference on industrial engineering and operations management manila, philippines (pp. 1–12). https://doi.org/10.46254/an13.20230584
  7. [7] Saeed, S., & Siraj, T. (2024). Global renewable energy infrastructure: pathways to carbon neutrality and sustainability. Solar energy and sustainable development journal, 13(2), 183–203. https://doi.org/10.51646/jsesd.v13i2.243
  8. [8] IRENA. (2024). Renewable capacity statistics 2024. https://www.irena.org/Publications/2024/Mar/Renewable-capacity-statistics-2024
  9. [9] World Bank. (2024). GDP (current US$). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD
  10. [10] World Bank. (2024). Population, total. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL
  11. [11] Worldometer. (2024). Largest countries in the world by area. https://www.worldometers.info/geography/largest-countries-in-the-world/
  12. [12] Polcyn, J., Us, Y., Lyulyov, O., Pimonenko, T., & Kwilinski, A. (2021). Factors influencing the renewable energy consumption in selected European countries. Energies, 15(1), 108. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15010108
  13. [13] Dong, K., Hochman, G., Zhang, Y., Sun, R., Li, H., & Liao, H. (2018). CO2 emissions, economic and population growth, and renewable energy: Empirical evidence across regions. Energy economics, 75, 180–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2018.08.017
  14. [14] Gielen, D., Boshell, F., Saygin, D., Bazilian, M. D., Wagner, N., & Gorini, R. (2019). The role of renewable energy in the global energy transformation. Energy strategy reviews, 24, 38–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2019.01.006
  15. [15] Karaaslan, A., & Camkaya, S. (2022). The relationship between CO2 emissions, economic growth, health expenditure, and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption: Empirical evidence from Turkey. Renewable energy, 190, 457–466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2022.03.139
  16. [16] Chica-Olmo, J., Sari-Hassoun, S., & Moya-Fernández, P. (2020). Spatial relationship between economic growth and renewable energy consumption in 26 European countries. Energy economics, 92, 104962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104962
  17. [17] Magazzino, C., Mele, M., & Schneider, N. (2021). A machine learning approach on the relationship among solar and wind energy production, coal consumption, GDP, and CO2 emissions. Renewable energy, 167, 99–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.11.050
  18. [18] Khan, I., Hou, F., & Le, H. P. (2021). The impact of natural resources, energy consumption, and population growth on environmental quality: Fresh evidence from the United States of America. Science of the total environment, 754, 142222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142222
  19. [19] Rahman, M. M., & Alam, K. (2021). Clean energy, population density, urbanization and environmental pollution nexus: Evidence from Bangladesh. Renewable energy, 172, 1063–1072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.03.103
  20. [20] Minh, T. B., Ngoc, T. N., & Van, H. B. (2023). Relationship between carbon emissions, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment, and urban population in Vietnam. Heliyon, 9(6), e17544. https://www.cell.com/heliyon/fulltext/S2405-8440(23)04752-7
  21. [21] Vo, D. H., & Vo, A. T. (2021). Renewable energy and population growth for sustainable development in the Southeast Asian countries. Energy, sustainability and society, 11(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-021-00304-6
  22. [22] Szyba, M. (2021). Spatial planning and the development of renewable energy sources in Poland. Acta innovations, (39), 5–14. https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=972344
  23. [23] Neupane, D., Kafle, S., Karki, K. R., Kim, D. H., & Pradhan, P. (2022). Solar and wind energy potential assessment at provincial level in Nepal: Geospatial and economic analysis. Renewable energy, 181, 278–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.09.027
  24. [24] Igliński, B., Kiełkowska, U., Pietrzak, M., Skrzatek, M., Kumar, G., & Piechota, G. (2023). The regional energy transformation in the context of renewable energy sources potential. Renewable energy, 218, 119246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.119246
  25. [25] Twumasi, Y. (2017). Relationship between CO2 emissions and renewable energy production in the United States of America. Archives of current research international, 7(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.9734/ACRI/2017/30483
  26. [26] Zou, K. H., Tuncali, K., & Silverman, S. G. (2003). Correlation and simple linear regression. Radiology, 227(3), 617–628. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.2273011499
  27. [27] Bowen, N. K., & Guo, S. (2011). Structural equation modeling. Oxford University Press. https://books.google.nl/books/about/Structural_Equation_Modeling.html?id=6OlOmribNhAC&redir_esc=y
  28. [28] Barrowman, N. (2014). Correlation, causation, and confusion. The new atlantis, 43, 23–44. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43551404
  29. [29] Zou, G. Y. (2007). Toward using confidence intervals to compare correlations. Psychological methods, 12(4), 399–413. https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2007-18729-002
  30. [30] Mardia, K. V, Kent, J. T., & Taylor, C. C. (2024). Multivariate analysis. John Wiley & Sons. https://books.google.nl/books/about/Multivariate_Analysis.html?id=Mw0LEQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
  31. [31] Kelloway, E. K., & Francis, L. (2012). Longitudinal research and data analysis. In Research methods in occupational health psychology (pp. 374–394). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203095249-22/longitudinal-research-data-analysis-kevin-kelloway-lori-francis
  32. [32] Azhgaliyeva, D., Beirne, J., & Mishra, R. (2023). What matters for private investment in renewable energy? Climate policy, 23(1), 71–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2022.2069664
  33. [33] Ling, A. P. A., Kokichi, S., & Masao, M. (2012). The Japanese smart grid initiatives, investments, and collaborations. https://arxiv.org/abs/1208.5394
  34. [34] Kosorić, V., Lau, S. K., Tablada, A., Bieri, M., & M. Nobre, A. (2021). A holistic strategy for successful photovoltaic (PV) implementation into Singapore’s built environment. Sustainability, 13(11), 6452. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116452
  35. [35] Lohani, S. P., Gurung, P., Gautam, B., Kafle, U., Fulford, D., & Jeuland, M. (2023). Current status, prospects, and implications of renewable energy for achieving sustainable development goals in Nepal. Sustainable development, 31(1), 572–585. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2392
  36. [36] Döme, V. (2024). A global-scale study on decision making in renewable energy policy: Internal and external factors driving the adoption of Feed-in Tariffs and Renewable Portfolio Standards. Environmental policy and governance, 34(3), 321–335. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.2085
  37. [37] Hicks, J. (2020). Generating conditions of strong social support for wind power: insights from community-owned wind energy projects. Australasian journal of environmental management, 27(2), 137–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/14486563.2020.1758807

Downloads

Published

2025-06-12

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2025): Journal of Environmental Engineering and Energy

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Alam, S. I. ., Bari, M. L. ., Saeed, S. S. ., & Siraj, M. T. . (2025). Exploring the Impact of GDP, Population, and Area on Renewable Energy Capacity Across Countries. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Energy, 2(2), 97-110. https://doi.org/10.22105/jeee.v2i2.54

Similar Articles

11-15 of 15

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.