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77% of energy subsidies go to renewables, 16% to fossil fuel
Posted on: June 27, 2024 at 16:30:09 CT
Spanky KU
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The United States spent $29.4 billion on energy subsidies in 2022. Of that, $8.7 billion were “end-use” subsidies, mainly financial assistance for energy in low-income households ($3.8 billion), home energy efficiency subsidies ($2.7 billion) and electric vehicle subsidies ($1.1 billion). Another $481 million went to environmental conservation. That leaves $20.2 billion, 89 percent of which is for tax breaks.
Of that $20.2 billion, $15.6 billion went to renewable energy and $3.2 billion to fossil fuels. This yields a split of 77 percent of energy subsidies going to renewables and 16 percent going to fossil fuels (the remainder go to nuclear and other energy types). Fossil fuels produced 80.8 quadrillion British thermal units of energy in 2022, while renewables produced 13.3 quadrillion—meaning that, on average, renewable energy is subsidized 29 times as much as fossil energy.
The plot thickens when we dive into what specific subsidies are in this stewpot. Ideally, subsidies should be as close to zero as possible. This is especially the case for well-developed industries like fossil fuel, where there is no economic justification for subsidies. But most fossil fuel subsidies are not for economic purposes; rather, they are for things like pollution control, tax breaks for domestic oil production for energy security reasons, or even expensing, which isn’t a subsidy at all.
So where does the idea that fossil fuels are heavily subsidized for economic reasons come from?
Edited by Spanky at 16:31:51 on 06/27/24
Of that $20.2 billion, $15.6 billion went to renewable energy and $3.2 billion to fossil fuels. This yields a split of 77 percent of energy subsidies going to renewables and 16 percent going to fossil fuels (the remainder go to nuclear and other energy types). Fossil fuels produced 80.8 quadrillion British thermal units of energy in 2022, while renewables produced 13.3 quadrillion—meaning that, on average, renewable energy is subsidized 29 times as much as fossil energy.
The plot thickens when we dive into what specific subsidies are in this stewpot. Ideally, subsidies should be as close to zero as possible. This is especially the case for well-developed industries like fossil fuel, where there is no economic justification for subsidies. But most fossil fuel subsidies are not for economic purposes; rather, they are for things like pollution control, tax breaks for domestic oil production for energy security reasons, or even expensing, which isn’t a subsidy at all.
So where does the idea that fossil fuels are heavily subsidized for economic reasons come from?
Edited by Spanky at 16:31:51 on 06/27/24
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77% of energy subsidies go to renewables, 16% to fossil fuel - Spanky KU - 6/27 16:30:09