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An evaluation of bioenergy industry sustainability impacts on forest degradation: evidence from European Union economies

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Abstract

The bioenergy industry is a proven option to replace fossil fuels in the heat supply and partly in the transport sector and generation of electricity. The study aims to investigate the empirical model of whether bioenergy use and institutional quality increase forest destruction in the European Union 28 countries covering the period 1990–2018, using the pooled ordinary least squares (pooled OLS), fixed effect, random effect, and least square dummy variable corrected. The findings indicate that bioenergy use within an institutional framework significantly contributes to a reduction in forest degradation regardless of the development status of countries in the region. This shows that efficient institutions and governments can significantly contribute to reducing forest degradation in the region especially in developed countries. Thus, policy-makers should stimulate the sustainability criteria of bioenergy application end-uses, intensify the quality of institutions, and ensure bioenergy use under effective governance.

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Fig. 1

Source: Alsaleh et al. (2017a)

Fig. 2

Source: Alsaleh et al. (2017b)

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Authors

Contributions

All three authors contributed to writing, estimation, analysis, and revision of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohd Alsaleh.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Appendices

Appendices

1.1 Appendix A

Comparisons of forest degradation indicator in underdeveloped (EU13) and developed (EU15) countries in EU-28 region during the 1990–2016 period.

figure a

1.2 Appendix B

Comparisons of world governance indicator (WGI) in underdeveloped and developed countries in EU-28 region during the 1996–2018 period.

figure b

1.3 Appendix C

List of the EU-28 region member countries.

European union (EU28) region

Developed countries (EU15)

Underdeveloped countries (EU13)

Member countries

Years

Member countries

Years

Austria

1995

Bulgaria

2007

Belgium

1958

Croatia

2013

Denmark

1973

Cyprus

2004

Finland

1995

Czech

2004

France

1958

Estonia

2004

Germany

1958

Hungary

2004

Greece

1981

Latvia

2004

Ireland

1973

Lithuania

2004

Italy

1958

Malta

2004

Luxemburg

1958

Poland

2004

Netherlands

1958

Romania

2007

Portugal

1986

Slovakia

2004

Spain

1986

Slovenia

2004

Sweden

1995

  

United Kingdom

1973

  
  1. Source: European Union Official Website: https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries_en

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Alsaleh, M., Abdul-Rahim, A.S. An evaluation of bioenergy industry sustainability impacts on forest degradation: evidence from European Union economies. Environ Dev Sustain 24, 1738–1760 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01505-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-021-01505-x

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