The relationship between biomass energy consumption and human development: Empirical evidence from BRICS countries

The impact of biomass energy utilization is still a controversial issue, and there is no consensus among researchers. Previous researches paid attention to the effects of biomass energy consumption on economic growth and environmental. While most studies indicate that the usage of biomass energy enhances economic growth and contributes to environmental protection, some studies show the opposite result. Our research wishes to contribute to the existing literature by discovering the effect of biomass energy consumption on human development in BRICS countries in the period 1990-2015. Using econometric methods which can solve the problem of cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity of slope such as LIPS and CADF unit root tests, LM bootstrap panel cointegration test, Continuously-Updated Fully-Modified (CUP-FM) and Continuously-Updated Bias-Corrected (CUP-BC) estimators, and Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test, our results reveal that biomass energy usage increase human development in BRICS countries and bidirectional causality exists between these two variables. These results may be a suggestion for policymakers to promote the usage of biomass energy. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.