Rafael Reyes on Wednesday, 10 November 2010 01:19
Fossil fuels dominate subsidies
Despite progress to advance clean energy including financial incentives, fossil fuels continue to receive far greater shares of subsidies.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) global subsidies for fossil fuel production were almost six times that of renewable energy subsidies 2009.
In its annual World Energy Outlook report [pdf], released today, the IEA says the fossil fuel industry received US$312 billion compared to US$57 billion for renewables. The majority of the subsidized funding for fossil fuels came from developing countries. The World Energy Outlook-2010 sees oil as the leading fuel in the energy mix until 2035.
Nevertheless, the agency sees renewable energy resources continuing to gain a larger share of the energy pie. It estimates the primary use of energy sources such as sustainable hydropower, modern biomass, wind, solar, , marine, and geothermal geothermal energy tripling by 2035. According to the World Energy Outlook-2010, renewable energy sources will see their contribution to the global energy supply grow from 7% to 14%.