An Analysis of Relationships Between Renewable Electricity, Household Consumption, and Economic Growth in Nigeria

Introduction

According to Andrews and Friis (n.d.), ‘widespread use of fossil fuels, rapid deforestation, and activities related to the production of goods and services are causing exponential increases in greenhouse gas emissions that are changing the earth's climate’. Production of electricity that is used in houses and industries has been important source of environmental deterioration and climate change. This, therefore, called for searching for environmentally sustainable sources of electricity production. Modern consumption and economic growth cannot be possible without electricity; it has been argued that it is the current mad rush for unsustainable consumption and economic growth that landed the world in the present climate crisis. It is also the same thing that causes the unreasonable thirst for environmentally harmful electricity supply by nations around the world by all means possible. Sustainable consumption involves ensuring reasonable use of resources without unnecessarily damaging the environment. According to Karuppannan and Sivam (2009) and Yigitcanlar et al. (2015), environmentally conscious consumers prefer places where there are less environmental damages than where environment is not given any consideration. Consumers now a day patronize environmentally friendly goods, especially with labels that indicate they are carbon free (Feucht & Zander, 2017).

Consumers are now eager to adopt green living than before. The concept of ethical consumption has become widespread and has gotten wider applications in different fields. Ethical consumption also includes changing individual behavior to avoid consumption habit that result in damage been caused to the environment. Example, include turning electricity appliances off when not in use or patronizing environmentally friendly sources of energy such as solar, wind and hydroelectric dams. According to Andrews and Friis (n.d.), there are three widely recognized dimensions of sustainable development; they are materials and energy use, land use, and human development. Coal has been recognized as an important source of greenhouse effect that affect the environment, hence the widespread movement away from coal as major source of electricity to renewable sources of energy. Nigeria is not left behind in this transition toward renewable energy. Though the global climate conference COP 27 that held in Egypt pointed out the constraints facing developing countries such as Nigeria and the need for developed countries to pay poor countries through climate financing, Nigeria generates large amount of its electricity through hydroelectric dams located around the country.