UK Government 'pays £6bn a year in subsidies to fossil fuel industry

The federal government gives the fossil-fuel industry almost £6bn a year in financial aid, almost twice the monetary support it provides to renewable-energy providers, according to new investigation.

A study by the Overseas Advancement Institute think-tank challenges the most popular conception that green energy for example wind and solar power needs disproportionate taxpayer support.

The uk gave an average of £5. 9bn worth of subsidies annually to fossil-fuel firms like BP and Shell within 2013 and 2014, the majority of it in the form of tax breaks to assist boost declining North Ocean production, according to the institute.
In comparison, renewable-energy companies received £3. 5bn of subsidies inside 2014‑15 - a number that will decline in the arriving years after the Government introduced it would end subsidies for first time onshore wind farms as well as slash support for solar energy.

This is despite David Cam telling a UN climate-change conference in September 2014: “We need to give company the certainty it needs to invest in lower carbon. That means fighting from the economically and environmentally obstructive  ?  uncooperative fossil‑fuel subsidies. ”
Overseas aid for energy tasks ignoring renewables
The report’s author, Shelagh Whitley, stated: “The UK stands out. In spite of its pledge to stage out fossil-fuel subsidies, they have dramatically increased its assistance to the production of non-renewable fuels in recent years. ”

The study looked over subsidies all over the world. It discovered that, globally, fossil-fuel businesses received $452bn (£273bn) really worth of subsidies a year throughout 2013 and 2014 -- compared to the $121bn going to green electricity provider.

The Government claims it does not provide any subsidies to the fossil-fuel industry. This is because it has a various, stricter definition of subsidy : which it limits in order to “government action that reduces the pre-tax price to be able to consumers to below international-market levels”.

A spokesman for your Department of Energy and Environment Change (DECC) said:

“We are committed to meeting our own decarbonisation targets - we have made record investments in renewables and are focusing on lower-carbon safe energy sources, such as nuclear and also shale gas.

“However this can not happen overnight, oil and gas will certainly continue to play a role so we are able to promise you that hardworking families and companies have access to secure, affordable power they can rely on. ”

www.yuchaiie.com