Nuclear energy generation's impact on the CO2 emissions and ecological footprint among European Union countries.

This study employs Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares, Common Correlated Effects and Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality techniques to investigate the environmental impacts of nuclear energy generation in European Union countries from 1990 to 2022. The ongoing debate within the European Union and the empirical contradictions in the literature, coupled with the overall singular-dimensionality surrounding the impacts of nuclear energy on the environment, necessitate a broader and comprehensive examination of its effects across various environmental dimensions. These dimensions include the presence of CO2 emissions and the ecological footprint generated. The findings reveal that nuclear energy adoption by countries tends to affect CO2 emissions but this relationship goes from CO2 to nuclear energy consumption as per the causality test, while the ecological footprint variable does not exhibit a causal relationship with nuclear energy consumption. We estimated that a higher presence of air pollutants promotes the generation of nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuel energy sources. The study highlights that while nuclear energy generation produces no air pollution, it does impose significant land use requirements, potentially leading to ecosystem degradation. Factors such as uranium extraction, nuclear waste management, disposal, and accidents contribute to this impact. Further research is needed to understand the specific mechanisms and factors contributing to the observed environmental degradation associated with nuclear energy generation.

Correction: Measuring intellectual capital with financial data.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249989.].

Measuring intellectual capital with financial data.

Intellectual capital is defined as the set of intangible assets that generate value for the company. Normally, the models that measure the intellectual capital make use of investments in intangible assets, as indicators of the generation of value by the company; or are based on a holistic measure, using another focus to validate. This research proposes a new method to measure intellectual capital, reconciling the use of financial measures for the management of intellectual capital and its antecedents in triangulated indices; it also determines relationship path coefficients, between constructs developed from a general conceptual model, based on the academic and professional literature. The proposed method combines component indicators with holistic indicators using a structural equation model, allowing differentiating the components of intellectual capital from the stock of intellectual capital. The method is applied to more than 1,600 European companies from 2004 to 2015 to assess its validity, presenting the monetary value of intellectual capital in these companies. The results allow a comparison of the situation of intellectual capital in companies in different countries and industries, opening an opportunity to disclosure intellectual capital.