GLOBAL SUBSIDIES INITIATIVE

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Biofuels - At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Australia

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 2008: This GSI report finds that the Australian government spent A$ 95 million on supporting biofuel production and consumption in 2006-07. That cost could grow to several hundred million dollars a year by the end of the decade if planned new ethanol and biodiesel capacity comes on-line over the next two years. Currently, biofuels contribute less than 0.5 per cent of Australia’s transport-fuel needs.

Biofuel Subsidies in Australia

Download: Biofuels at What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Canada (PDF - 2.09 MB)

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 29, 2009—Canadian government subsidies for biofuels have introduced market distortions that make it difficult for other more cost effective and sustainable energy alternatives to enter the market, according to a report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Geneva-based Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI).

Biofuel Subsidies in Canada

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Biofuels - At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in China (PDF - 4 MB)

GENEVA, Switzerland, November 2008: This report finds that China provided a total of RMB 780 million (US$ 115 million, roughly US$ 0.40 per litre) in biofuel subsidies in 2006. Total support is expected to reach approximately RMB 8 billion (US$ 1.2 billion) by 2020, according to official sources. This is likely to be a significant underestimate, as it does not include support to feedstocks, such as the RMB 3000 (US$ 437) per hectare per year available from 2007 for farmers growing feedstock on marginal land.

Biofuel Subsidies in China

Download: Biofuels at What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the European Union

GENEVA, Switzerland, October 2007: Total annual support for biofuels provided by EU governments reached € 3.7 billion in 2006. Considering that many subsidies are difficult to track down, this is probably an under-estimate. Currently, biofuels contribute less than 2 percent of the EU’s supply of fuel for road transport, a percentage that the Community wants to increase to 10 percent by 2020. As a consequence of this policy, and because many forms of support to the industry are not budget-limited, support levels could escalate rapidly in the future.

Biofuel Subsidies in the European Union

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Biofuels – At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in the European Union – 2010 Update 

GENEVA, Switzerland, 14 July 2010: Biofuels – both ethanol and biodiesel – benefit from large financial support in almost all European Union Member States. A Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) study found that EU governments provided € 3.7 billion of support for biofuels in 2006, considered at the time to be a conservative estimate. The subsidization of biofuels has continued in recent years as policy makers have sought ways to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, especially petroleum. This update, Biofuels at What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the European Union - 2010 Update, prepared by FiFo Institute for Public Economics (University of Cologne), focuses on the level of support provided by the EU since 2007 and reports important changes in subsidy policies.

Biofuel Subsidies in the European Union: 2010 Update

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Biofuels - At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in selected OECD countries

Biofuels - At What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in selected OECD countries, provides an overview and analysis of subsidies to biofuels in Australia, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland and the United States.

Biofuel Subsidies in Selected OECD Countries

Download: Biofuels at What Cost? Government Support for Biodiesel in Malaysia (PDF - 1.56 MB)

GENEVA, Switzerland, September 2008 - For Malaysia, a country that exports 90 per cent of its palm oil, representing 57 per cent of global trade in this commodity, the worldwide push for biofuels held the promise of an export bonanza. The appetite for biofuels created what the head of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council called “a potentially unlimited need for palm oil”. The Malaysian Federal Government consequently developed ambitious biofuel policies in 2005 to expand the market for palm oil,improve energy security, create a new export industry and replace petroleum imports with a cheap indigenous fuel to satisfy domestic needs.

Biofuel Subsidies in Malaysia

Download: Biofuels at What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Indonesia (PDF - 1.6 MB)

GENEVA, Switzerland, December 2008: A GSI report on government support to biofuels in Indonesia finds that the country has been slow to implement its ambitious plans for biofuel production and consumption, largely due to dramatic rises in feedstock prices in 2007 and early 2008.

Biofuel Subsidies in Indonesia

Download: Biofuels at What Cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Switzerland: 2008 Update (PDF - 1 MB)

GENEVA, Switzerland, October 2008: In Switzerland, as elsewhere, biofuels have attracted particularly high levels of government assistance because of their perceived benefits to the environment. However, a report by the Global Subsidies Initiative—"Biofuels at what cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Switzerland: 2008 Update"—questions whether subsidies for biofuels are the best way to achieve climate change objectives.

Biofuel Subsidies in Switzerland

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Biofuels: At What Cost? - Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the United States

GENEVA, Switzerland, October 2006: Subsidies to biofuels have reached record levels in the United States and are a costly way of achieving public policy objectives, according to a report launched in October 2006 by the GSI.

Biofuel Subsidies in the United States

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Biofuels - At What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the United States - 2007 Update

GENEVA, Switzerland, October 2007: The biofuels industry is witnessing unprecedented growth in the United States, driving agricultural commodities prices to record levels and sparking a host of environmental and economic concerns. This expansion is far from imputable wholly to market forces; rather, federal, state and municipal jurisdictions have been instrumental in driving up both the production and consumption of biofuels through sizeable subsidies and other incentives. A new report by the Global Subsidies Initiative (GSI) and Earth Track, “Biofuels - At What Cost? Government Support for Ethanol and Biodiesel in the United States - 2007 Update”, revises an earlier report issued October 2006 and details the extent of current government support to biofuels in the United States. The report also analyzes the potential impact of forthcoming legislation, namely the Energy and Farm Bills, which are poised to expand government support even further.

Biofuel Subsidies in the United States: 2007 Update