Abstract:

Energy consumption has expanded quickly along with the world's fast globalization, transformation, and expansion. Because fossil fuels will eventually run out and because of the harm they do to the environment, renewable energy sources are becoming more and more important. Education is essential for raising conscious civilizations and realizing the potential of renewable energy sources for a sustainable way of life. All educators, but especially academic educators, bear a heavy burden due to this responsibility. It is clear from several studies that the need for a clean environment in cultures that become aware through education will influence energy policies.
When examining the notion of human capital in relation to the deployment of renewable energy, it can be defined as the pool of human resources capable of developing and overseeing renewable energy projects within a specific country. These individuals are responsible for identifying suitable technologies for the country, ensuring the effective functioning of the chosen technologies, and driving necessary innovations in the sector. The acquisition of such skills by human capital is believed to be closely tied to the quality of the education process it has undergone (Mondal et al., 2016:1122-1123).
Consequently, there exists a general expectation that societies with higher levels of education will exhibit greater demand for renewable energy. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that there is a dearth of empirical studies that adequately test this hypothesis. Hence, the objective of this study is to examine the long and short-term relationship between renewable energy consumption and the enrollment rate in higher education in Türkiye, which falls within the category of developing countries. For the analysis of the long-run relationship, Bayer-Hanck (2013) employs cointegration analysis, while the short-run relationship is examined using a vector error correction model. The study utilizes annual data for the period 1990-2022.
In the first stage of the analysis, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Perron (PP) tests were applied to determine the stationarity of the data. Based on the cointegration analysis conducted by Bayer-Hanck (2013), a significant association is observed between renewable energy consumption and the enrollment rate in higher education in long term. Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square: According to the coefficient value obtained with the FMOLS method, when the higher education enrollment rate increases by 1%, renewable energy consumption will increase by 23.5%, and there is a positive statistically significant relationship between them. The error correction model reveals that there is a short-run relationship. The model's error correction term has a negative, statistically significant coefficient. In other words, the model's error correcting system is functional.
As a result, because they are eco-friendly, renewable energy sources are quite important. However, emerging nations like Türkiye continue to utilize it sparingly. Students and academics both have significant roles to play in promoting energy awareness. To promote the use of renewable energy sources, it is advised that seminars and training programs be established in higher education.

Keywords:

Renewable Energy, Higher Education, University Students, Cointegration Analysis.