Achieving Sustainability in India: Analyzing Carbon Neutrality Scenarios Using the Novel Fourier-NARDL Approach

Abstract

India's goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2070 has made people look more at how important cleaner energy sources like nuclear will be to help reach its climate goals. This study looks at how the amount of work and money spent on nuclear energy research and development (NUC) in India relates to how clean or polluted the environment is, measured by a simple indicator called the Load Capacity Factor (LCF), from 1978 to 2022. To account for things that don’t follow logical, straight lines or sudden changes, we use the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model and add in some Fourier terms. The results show that when nuclear research and development (R&D) spending drops, it helps improve earthquake safety, but when it goes up, it doesn’t seem to matter much. These findings also show that the Load Capacity Curve (LCC) idea has worked for a while, but it isn’t the best way to understand how it can grow and change over time. Urbanization also shows that it can make people feel more stressed in the city in the short run, but after a while, living in urban areas can help people feel happier. These findings give helpful information that can be used to shape policies that help India reach its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).