Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Where Energy Subsidies Go:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_05_11-2008_05_17.shtml#1210597265
Today's WSJ [1]reports on an Energy Information Administration study
detailing current federal energy subsidies.
The agency reports that the total taxpayer bill was $16.6 billion
in direct subsidies, tax breaks, loan guarantees and the like.
That's double in real dollars from eight years earlier, as you'd
expect given all the money Congress is throwing at "renewables."
Even more subsidies are set to pass this year.
An even better way to tell the story is by how much taxpayer money
is dispensed per unit of energy, so the costs are standardized. For
electricity generation, the EIA concludes that solar energy is
subsidized to the tune of $24.34 per megawatt hour, wind $23.37 and
"clean coal" $29.81. By contrast, normal coal receives 44 cents,
natural gas a mere quarter, hydroelectric about 67 cents and
nuclear power $1.59. . . .
The same study also looked at federal subsidies for non-electrical
energy production, such as for fuel. It found that ethanol and
biofuels receive $5.72 per British thermal unit of energy produced.
That compares to $2.82 for solar and $1.35 for refined coal, but
only three cents per BTU for natural gas and other petroleum
liquids.
References
1.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121055427930584069.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
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