Biomass energy consumption and economic growth: Further evidence from NEXT-11 countries

In this paper, it is aimed to examine the relationship between biomass energy consumption (BEC) and economic growth (EG) in NEXT-11 countries (except for Vietnam). In this context, panel data analysis was executed using annual data for the 1970-2017 period. According to the findings, it has been found that BEC and EG act together in the long run. In consequence of the causality tests, concluded that the conservation hypothesis is valid for NEXT-11 countries. In the country-specific evaluations, the conservation hypothesis was found to be valid for Indonesia, Nigeria and Bangladesh; the neutrality hypothesis was found to be valid for Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, and the Philippines. The findings show that NEXT-11 countries can only realize such a serious, costly biomass energy investment when they achieve EG. These findings provide valuable signals for policymakers.