The imperativeness of biomass energy consumption to the environmental sustainability of the United States revisited

Abstract

The predicament of increasing environmental issues in the last few decades has increased the interest in clean energy sources. Some recently created sources of energy, for example, biomass energy, may decrease environmental pressure. This study aimed to uncover the causality between biomass energy consumption (BEC) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission in the United States (U.S.) using the bootstrap Granger full-sample and sub-sample rolling window estimates method for the period 1981M01 to 2019M12. A one-way relationship was indicated, from biomass energy consumption to CO₂ emissions, using the Granger causality test. The durability of the estimated vector autoregressive (VAR) model has been calculated by considering the structural changes. The results show that BEC has both positive and negative effects on CO₂ emissions in sub-samples, and CO₂ emissions also show a causative relationship with biomass energy consumption. These outcomes can help policymakers consider biomass energy a perfect wellspring of energy to acquire environmental sustainability and energy security.

Appendix 1: Summary of literature review

Authors	Sample	Variables	Methodology	Results
Sadorsky (2009)	G7 countries	CO2, REC, GDP, OP	Pedroni Panel cointegration, DOLS, FMOLS,	An increase in GDP and CO2 are the main forces to cause an increase in REC. OP has a negative but less impact on REC
Apergis et al. (2010)	19 developing and developed nations (1984–2007)	GDP, NEC, REC, CO2	Panel cointegration, panel ECM	There is bidirectional causality between REC and CO2 in the short run
Menyah and Wolde-Rufael (2010)	US 1960–2007	CO2, NEC, REC	Granger causality test, vector auto-regression model	One way causality from CO2 to RE, and one-way causality running from NEC to CO2
Bilgili (2012)	US (1991–Jan to 2011–Sep)	CO2, FFC, BEC	Engel-Granger single equation cointegration tests	FFC has a positive impact on CO2, while BEC has a negative impact on CO2
Apergis and Payne (2014)	11 South American countries 1980–2010	GDP, RE, OP, CO2	Panel Co-integration and panel ECM, panel causality test	OP, GDP, and CO2 positively impact RE. There is a bidirectional relation between RE and control variables
Bölük and Mert (2014)	16 EU countries (1990–2008)	GDP, GDP2, RE, FE, CO2	Panel fixed effect model	EKC was rejected for the 16 EU countries. Further, consumption of RE is a proficient procedure toward environmental quality up-gradation and feasible development
Lin and Moubarak (2014)	China (1977–2011)	GDP, REC, CO2, LA	ARDL, Johansen Cointegration,	GDP, CO2, and LA have a positive effect on REC in the long run
Shafiei and Salim (2014)	the panel of OECD nations 1980–2011	POP, GDP, REC, NREC, CO2, IND	Johansen Fisher cointegration test, Westerlund cointegration test, STIRPAT model, ECM-Granger causality approach	NRE influences the increase in CO2, while RE causes a reduction in CO2. And EKC exists between CO2 and Urbanization
Sebri and Ben-Salha (2014)	BRICS countries (1971–2010)	GDP, REC, CO2, TO	ARDL cointegration, VECM	REC positively impacts economic growth. CO2 and TO also have a positive influence on REC
Al-Mulali et al. (2015)	Caribbean and Latin American countries (18 countries) (1980–2010)	GDP, GDP2, RE, FD, CO2	Kao cointegration, Granger causality, FMOLS, VECM	Inverted U-shaped EKC found FD can improve environmental quality by its negative long-run effect on CO2; RE does not contribute to CO2 reduction. Feedback also found from GDP, RE, FD to CO2
Al-Mulali et al. (2015)	Vietnam (1982–2011)	GDP, GDP2, ECFF, ECRE, IM, EX, CO2, LA, CA	Pesaran cointegration, ARDL	EKC does not exist, but the Pollution haven hypothesis exists for Vietnam. RE does not affect CO2 emission, while FFE causes an increase in CO2
Jaforullah and King (2015)	US (1960–2007)	NEC, REC, GDP, EP, CO2	Johansen cointegration test, Weak exogeneity and Granger (non-)causality technique, VECM	Long-run relation found between REC, CO2, GDP, and EP except for NEC
Özbuğday and Erbas (2015)	36 developing and developed countries (1971–2009)	GDP, CO2, POP, IND, EE, RE	CSC, CCE, Fixed Effects regression	long term relation found between GDP, IND, RE, EE, and CO2. Long-run causality between RE and CO
Bilgili et al. (2016)	17 OECD (1977–2010)	CO2, GDP, GDP2, REC,	Pedroni Panel cointegration, panel FMOLS, panel DOLS	EKC exists, and REC reduces CO2
Dogan and Seker (2016)	EU countries (1980–2012)	GDP, GDP2, REC, NREC, CO2, TR	LM bootstrap panel cointegration test, DH Granger causality, panel DOLS,	EKC for CO2 exists for EU countries. There is bidirectional causality between CO2 and REC, while one-way causality runs from GDP and trade to CO2
Dogan and Seker (2016)	a panel of 23 countries (1985–2011)	GDP, GDP2, REC, NREC, FD, CO2, TR	CSD test, Pedroni cointegration test, Kao panel cointegration test, LM bootstrap panel cointegration test, weighted DOLS, weighted FMOLS	EKC was found for the panel of 23 countries. FD, TR, and REC improve environmental quality while NREC causes environmental degradation in those countries
Moutinho and Robaina (2016)	20 European countries over 1991–2010, and in sub-period 2001–2010	CO2, CEG, GDP, GDP2	Cointegration analysis, Innovative Accounting Approach	EKC exists in selected 20 European countries. The proportion of RE in electricity production plays a significant role in the reduction of CO2
Adewuyi and Awodumi (2017)	West African countries (1980–2010)	CO2, EC, BEC, PC, HC, FD, GDP, URB, RT	simultaneous equation model (SEM) estimated with three-stage least squares (3SLS)	BEC increases economic growth, which causes an increase in CO2
Bhattacharya et al. (2017)	85 countries, 1991–2012	GDP, IQ, LA, CO2, GFCF, NREC, REC,	Grouped mean FMOLS	Major empirical outcomes have recognized REC as positively affecting climate quality by lessening the degree of GHGs emissions in the environment
Jebli and Youssef (2017)	5 North American countries (1980–2011)	CO2, GDP, REC, AVA	Panel unit root test, Pedroni Cointegration test, Granger causality test, panel DOLS, panel FMOLS	AVA and RE improve environmental quality, and an increase in economic growth causes an increase in CO2
Shahbaz et al.	105 countries of the low, middle, and high income (1980–2014)	TO, CO2, GDP	Panel cointegration, panel VECM causality	TO causes CO2 emissions for low and high-income countries
Zhang et al. (2017)	Pakistan (1970–2012)	RE, NRE, CO2, GDP	ARDL, FMOLS, DOLS, CCR	GDP has a significant positive effect on CO2. NRE contributes to increasing CO2 whereas, RE significantly contributes to reducing CO2 emissions
Hu et al. (2018)	25 developing nations (1996–2012)	REC, CO2, GDP, CSEC, CSIC	Pedroni cointegration technique, FMOLS, DOLS	REC has a statistically negative effect on CO2 emission
khoshnevis Yazdi and Shakouri (2018)	Germany (1975–2014)	CO2, GDP, GDP2, REC, EC	ARDL Cointegration, VECM,	No EKC, REC insignificantly affects decreasing carbon emissions while the increase in economic growth and EC drives CO2 emissions
Baležentis et al. (2019)	EU countries (1995–2015)	BE, other RE (wind, solar, geothermal), GDP, CO2	Panel cointegration, panel regression	BE can reduce pollution from the environment and has a higher effect than other renewables do There is one-way causality from BE to CO2
Ahmad et al. (2020)	26 OECD economies (1990–2014)	FDI, EX, REC, GDP, GDP2, CO2	CSD LM tests, Westerlund cointegration tests, FMOLS	EKC and Pollution Halo Hypothesis exists. The negative relation between REC and CO2
Qingquan et al. (2020)	14 Asian economies (1990–2014)	URB, REM POP, HC GDP, MP, RIT, CO2	Pedroni and Kao cointegration tests, panel FMOLS, panel DOLS,	The significant positive impact of expansionary monetary policy on CO2 emissions. Contractionary monetary policy and human capital influence the mitigation of CO2 emissions
Qingquan et al. (2020)	Australia (1972Q1-2014Q4)	GDP, REM, RIT, EXT, LA, FFC, CO2	Pearson, Shin, and Smith cointegration test, augmented, EG, cointegration test, FMOLS, DOLS, CCR	REM, LA, FFC, GDP, and monetary policies are key forecasters of CO2 in the long run. The long-term increase in export tax helps to mitigate CO2, and a decrease in export tax increases CO2
Ahmad et al. (2021)	24 OECD economies (1993–2014)	CO2, GDP, GDP2, EC, FFC, INN, FDI, URB,	simultaneous equation modeling (SEM)	No EKC, bidirectional causality exists between GDP and EC FFC, INN, and FDI are the main source of CO2
Ding et al. (2021)	G7 countries (1990–2018)	Eco-INN, GDP, REC, CO2, EN-P, EX, IM	CSD and HS test, Westerlund panel cointegration test, Westerlund ECM approach, CS-ARDL,	Long-term relation found between the variables. REC, Eco-inn, and EP help mitigate CO2 while IM and GDP increase CO2 and EX reduce CO2

1. OP oil prices, FD financial development, CEG carbon dioxide of electricity generation, TO trade openness, FE fossil fuel energy, IQ institutional quality, GFCF gross fixed capital formation, NREC non-renewable energy consumption, NEC nuclear energy consumption, POP population, IND industrialization, VECM vector error correction model, CCR canonical cointegration regression, CSEC commercial services export per capita, CSIC commercial services import per capita, LM Lagrange Multiplier, TR Trade, DH Dumitrescue–Hurlin, CSD cross-sectional dependence, CSC cross-sectional correlation, CCE common correlated effects, EP energy prices, EE energy efficiency, FFC fossil fuel consumption, ECFF electricity consumption from fossil fuels sources, ECRE electricity consumption from renewable sources, IM import, EX export, LA labor, CA capital, STIRPAT stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology, AVA agriculture value added, EC energy consumption, PC physical capital, HC human capital, URB urbanization, REM remittances, MP monetary policy, RIT real interest rate, INN innovation, CS cross sectional, EN-P energy productivity, Eco-INN economic innovation, EXT export tax, CCR correlated component regression, EG Engle–Granger, HS slope heterogeneity, ECM error-correction mechanism