Energy Subsidies in Other Countries

Studies: IPC releases report on trade notifications for US, EU and Brazilian biofuels policies

September 12, 2010

This September, the International Food and Agriculture Trade Policy Council (IPC) released a report about biofuel subsidies and international trade, Biofuel and Biomass Subsidies in the U.S., EU and Brazil: Towards a Transparent System of Notification.

News: Fossil-fuel subsidies round-up: July and August 2010

September 12, 2010

Following announcements that fossil-fuel subsidies will be phased out, from the G-20, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and a number of independent countries, including Iran, Nigeria and Bahrain, Subsidy Watch has decided each month to highlight important news stories that touch on this theme.

Commentary: Apples and oranges? Why the Bloomberg NEF comparison of subsidies to renewables and fossil-fuels caused such a fuss

September 12, 2010

On 29 July, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a Bloomberg-owned consultancy, put out a press release summarizing the preliminary results of a study comparing subsidies to ‘clean’ and to ‘dirty’ energy sources, namely renewable energy and fossil energy.

The Public Goods Paradigm and the EU's Common Agricultural Policy

May 17, 2010 | Valentin Zahrnt

From the outside, the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) may look immutable. The only major effect of the reform passed by farm ministers in 2009, dubbed the ‘Health Check', was to dissipate more serious ambitions for change for the rest of the EU long-term budget (2007–2013).

Studies: United States renewable-energy support programs catalogued

At an impressive 834 pages, Renewable Energy Government Incentive Programs, released in February by Energy Business Reports (EBR), offers an in-depth look at the United States’ many programs supporting renewable energy.

Diminishing Expectations: Broken Promises in the Development of Cellulosic Ethanol Production

March 8, 2010 | Robert Rapier

The United States' Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently acknowledged that, despite generous levels of taxpayer funding, cellulosic ethanol was not scaling up as quickly as they had hoped. So they reduced the 2010 cellulosic ethanol mandate from 100 million gallons to 6.5 million gallons.

Studies: ECIPE conclude EU biofuels policy is costly, protectionist and risks violating WTO obligations

January 10, 2010

The European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) has released a report criticizing the European Union's biofuels policy, Green Protectionism in the European Union: How Europe's Biofuels Policy and the Renewable Energy Directive Violate WTO Commitments.

A Grain of Salt Needed with Promises of Cheap Desalination

January 7, 2010 | Peter Gleick , Heather Cooley

The irony of water scarcity on a planet 70% covered by ocean does make us gaze longingly at the seas as the ultimate answer. The public, politicians and water authorities continue to hope that cost-effective and environmentally friendly desalination - the removal of salt from seawater to make it drinkable - will come to the rescue of water-scarce regions.

Irrigation Subsidies: How to Turn From the Overuse of Water and Energy to Sustainability?

Monday, September 1, 2014 - 16:30

Monday, September 1, 2014 - 13:00

Stockholm—1st September—IISD, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources and KfW Development Bank are co-organising a seminar at the World Water Week in Stockholm. The seminar brings together a range of international experts to discuss the effects of fuel and energy subsidies on water consumption and how to reform these.

Get inspired and stay up-to-date with GSI.

View Past Newsletters