In November 2010, the International Energy Agency (IEA) published the World Energy Outlook 2010, the latest in its annually updated series of projections on energy demand, production, trade and investments, differentiated by fuel and region, until 2035.  This edition includes a special focus on fossil-fuel subsidies – assessing the size of consumption subsidies and modelling how their reform would affect energy markets, climate change and government budgets.

The Outlook reports significant fluctuations in the economic value of fossil-fuel consumption subsidies depending on the year – US$ 343 billion in 2007, US$ 558 billion in 2008 and US$ 312 billion in 2009 – with international fossil energy prices having the biggest influence on expenditure. It estimates that their reform by 2020 could reduce CO2 emissions by 2 gigatonnes, amounting to 40% of the additional reductions required between the Outlook’s baseline scenario and its 450 ppm scenario, as well as reducing global primary energy demand by 5%.

The study also provides in-depth case studies on Iran, Russia, China, India and Indonesia, outlining for each one the subsidy policies in place and their estimated costs.

The World Energy Outlook 2010 is available on its dedicated website at a cost of €150 per paper copy and €120 per pdf copy. Executive summaries are freely available in a number of languages.