Nearly half the $194.3 billion in clean energy stimulus funds promised by major economies after the financial crisis of 2008 has now been spent, according to the latest analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. In all, $94.8 billion has been deployed to date with no less than $74.5 billion of this spent in 2010 alone.
The analysis shows that of the funds promised by governments after the crisis, some $99.5 billion remains to be spent from 2011 onwards. Popularly, but inexactly, dubbed “green stimuli”, these programs address everything from small-scale energy efficiency schemes to public support for large-scale projects in renewable energy and carbon capture and storage.
Spending in 2010 accelerated mainly due to higher than expected activity in China and Japan. Europe and the US remained on track with expected clean energy stimulus spending.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance on Tuesday launched its Policy Dashboard, a new tool for tracking developments in low-carbon policy around the globe. The Dashboard shows how European countries including France, Germany, Italy and Spain have been responding to the rising cost of renewable energy subsidy schemes.
Senators Want to Do Away with Ethanol Subsidy
A pair of US Senators is heading a bipartisan effort to repeal roughly $6 billion dollars in subsidies for the ethanol industry, according to a story on The Hill.
Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) introduced a bill that would take away the 45 cents-per-gallon credit that Congress extended in December to last through 2011.
“The ethanol tax credit is bad economic policy, bad energy policy and bad environmental policy. The $6 billion we waste every year on corporate welfare should instead stay in taxpayers’ pockets where it can be used to spur innovation, stimulate growth and create jobs,” Coburn said in a statement.
The two Senators pointed to a Government Accountability Office report that found the ethanol industry is benefiting from duplicative incentives–in particular, the Renewable Fuel Standard (which mandates ethanol blending), and the 45 cents tax credit.
Representatives of the ethanol industry have said that they would prefer subsidies be shifted to building infrastructure for distributing the fuel.
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