A Study on the Factors Driving Biomass Production in OECD Countries

A Study on the Factors Driving Biomass Production in OECD Countries

Biomass production and consumption depend on a combination of a nation’s intrinsic characteristics such as the environmental conditions, economic level, and so on. In this paper, using data from 12 OECD countries with 5 time intervals, we perform panel data analysis to investigate determinant factors on biomass supply. Results from the random effect analysis show that forest area, GDP and R&D are significant factors that influence biomass production. Forest land area is an important factor to increase biomass production. Biomass production and consumption increase with forest land area. There is an interesting relationship between the change of biomass production and forest land area. The increases in biomass production do not influence the decrease of forest land area, while forest land area increases with biomass production increase. It proves that forest resources can be a sustainable energy source for biomass without damaging forest. It also has been found that high levels of energy R&D investment and GDP are significant factors to stimulate biomass energy use.