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Poorly implemented energy subsidies are economically costly to taxpayers and damage the environment. This report aims at providing the emerging lessons form a representative sample of case studies in 20 developing countries that could help policy makers to address implementation challenges, including overcoming political economy and affordability constraints. The sample has selected on the basis of a number of criteria, including the country’s level of development (and consumption), developing country region, energy security and the fuel it subsidies (petroleum fuel, electricity, natural gas). The case studies were supported by data collection related to direct budgetary subsidies, fuel and electricity tariffs, and household survey data.The analysis provides strong evidence of the success of reforms in reducing the associated fiscal burden. For the sample of countries, the average energy subsidy recorded in the budget was reduced from 1.8% in 2004 to 1.3%GDP in 2010. The reduction of subsidies is particularly remarkable for net energy importers. Pass-through of international fuel prices was also notable in the case of electricity generated by fossil fuel. For the sample of countries, the average end-user electricity tariff increased by 50%, from USD 6 cents in 2002 to USD 9 cents per kWh in 2010.In spite of the relatively price inelastic demand for gasoline and diesel, fossil fuel consumption in the road sector (per unit of GDP) declined in the 20 countries examined from 53 (44) in 2002 to about 23 kt oil equivalent per million of GDP in 2008 in the case of gasoline (Diesel). The most notable decline in consumption was recorded in the low and lower middle income countries. This reflects the much higher rate of growth in GDP in this group of countries and underlines the opportunities to influence future consumption behavior rather than modifying the existing consumption patterns, overcoming inertia and vested interests. Similar trends are recorded for power consumption.While there is no one-size-fits-all model for subsidy reform, implementation of compensatory social policies and an effective communication strategy, before the changes are introduced, reduces helped with the implementation of reforms.

While energy efficiency projects could partly meet new energy demand more cheaply than new supplies, weak economic institutions in developing and transitional economies impede developing and financing energy efficiency retrofits. This book analyzes these difficulties, suggests a 3-part model for projectizing and financing energy efficiency retrofits, and presents thirteen case studies to illustrate the issues and principles involved.

This book explores energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) as a means of overcoming some of the more difficult hurdles in promoting energy efficiency in public facilities. ESPCs represent a very attractive solution to many of the problems that are unique to public agencies, since they involve outsourcing a full project cycle to a service provider. From the detailed audit through implementation and savings verification, ESPCs can relieve public agencies of bureaucratic hassles, while service providers can secure the off-budget project financing and be paid from the actual energy savings, thus internalizing project performance risks. ESPC bidding also allows public agencies to select from a range of technical solutions, maximizing the benefit to the agency. Global experience suggests that ESPCs have been more effective at realizing efficiency gains than many other policy measures and programs, since the service providers have a vested interest in ensuring that a project is actually implemented. Many of the country governments interviewed for the study also saw enormous potential in bundling, financing, and implementing energy efficiency projects on a larger scale in the public sector, a method that increases the rate of efficiency gains and creates further benefits through economies of scale.

India has 150GW of renewable energy potential, about half in the form of small hydropower, biomass, and wind and half in solar, cogeneration, and waste-to-energy. Developing renewable energy can help India increase its energy security, reduce the adverse impacts on the local environment, lower its carbon intensity, contribute to more balanced regional development, and realize its aspirations for leadership in high-technology industries. This study aims to answers critical questions on why renewable energy development is relevant in Indian context, on how much development is economically feasible, and on what needs to be done to realize the potential. The Report is based on data from nearly 180 wind, biomass, and small hydropower projects in 20 states, as well as information from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC).The Report suggests that about 3GW of renewable energy ? all from small hydropower is conomically feasible, when the avoided cost of coal-based generation of Rs 3.08/kWh is considered. About 59GW of renewable energy in wind, biomass, and small hydropower is available at less than Rs 5/kWh. The entire cumulative capacity of 68GW in these three technologies can be harnessed at less than Rs 6/kWh. About 62GW?90 percent of cumulative renewable capacity in wind, biomass, and small hydropower?is economically feasible when the environmental premiums on coal are brought into consideration. Realizing the need to bridge this gap, the government has set an ambitious target of installing at least 40GW of additional capacity of renewables in the next 10 years. India has made tremendous strides in establishing overarching policy framework and institutions to bring renewable in the mainstream of energy mix, but significant financial, infrastructure and regulatory barriers to renewable energy development remain which the report sheds light on and suggests possible solutions.

This study is designed to analyze the energy efficiency policies in seven countries that were successful in achieving low energy intensities or in reducing their energy intensity considerably. The study analyzes the evolution of the energy intensity of these countries from 1990 to 2007, identifying points of inflection in the progress towards improvements. Changes to the policy agenda immediately upstream are explored in an effort to identify cause and affect relationships in energy efficiency improvements. Although direct relationships are difficult to isolate, cross country analyses that point to similar successes among a variety of countries give some confidence that these policies have contributed to reducing energy needs. The energy efficiency of new buildings is relatively easily and in expensively addressed by setting standards: making a new building energy efficient typically adds only 5 percent to the total cost. The purpose of this study is to determine what policy changes make a difference in countries' energy in tensity. The starting point for the analysis was the evolution of countries' energy intensity over time to identify inflection points when notable changes took place. Given that the inflection point could have been caused by external price shocks or structural changes, these causes were analyzed and removed from further consideration. Then changes to the policy agenda during identified periods were explored in an effort to identify cause and affect relationships in energy efficiency improvements.

This report summarizes the findings of an extensive literature survey of the experiences of implementing BEECs in developed countries. It also includes case studies of four developing countries- China, Egypt, India, and Mexico and the state of California in the United States of America. It aims to inform both the World Bank Group and its client countries about global best practices and emerging lessons from developing countries in the design and implementation of BEECs. The report also serves as a primer on the basic features of BEECs and the commonly adopted compliance and enforcement approaches. The key challenges to improving compliance enforcement in developing countries include the level of government commitment to energy efficiency, the effectiveness of government oversight of the construction sector, the compliance capacity of domestic/local building supply chain, and the financing constraints. These challenges are surmountable in countries where economic growth is sustained and energy efficiency is pursued as a key element of national energy strategy.

The objectives of this power market structure study is to develop a taxonomy of the existing power market structures, as shown by the extent of vertical and horizontal unbundling found among restructured power systems across developing countries; to design an analytical framework for assessing the desirability of unbundling under the variety of economic conditions found among developing countries; and to propose insights for operational guidance on alternative market structures based on relevant criteria, in particular on the initial conditions of a country and its power sector. The study specifically examines whether power system size and coun¬try per capita income can be reliable indicators of initial conditions for guiding policy on power market structure. The results of the analysis carried out for this study confirm the following conclusions: (i) unbundling delivers results in terms of several performance indicators when used as an entry point to implement broader reforms, particularly introducing a sound regulatory framework, reducing the degree of concentration of the generation and distribution segments of the market by attracting additional public and private players and greater private sector participation; and (ii) there seems to be a credible empirical basis for selecting a threshold power system size and per capita income level below which unbundling of the power supply chain is not expected to be worthwhile.

The next 15 years will see the overall energy structure become more global. There are unlikely to be supply problems and to some extent will depend on resources not yet discovered. OPEC oil supplies might, in part, depend on its willingness to respond to demand pressures. Natural gas supply will be influenced by the expansion of gas infrastructure including pipelines, liquefaction and re-gasification plants and tankers. Most regions are unlikely to face restrictions in coal availability.

Shell's global scenarios include two very different energy futures extending to 2020. In New Frontiers, high economic growth in Asia-Pacific and elsewhere drives up consumption of oil, gas and coal in spite of energy-conserving life-style changes in the developed world. Energy prices continue at current levels for some years, then rise modestly towards a ceiling set by costs of alternatives. In Barricades, economic growth is constrained by political conflicts and uncertainties. Energy consumption is intensely regulated and taxed, energy markets stagnate and oil and gas prices remain indefinitely at current levels or lower.

Geopolitics of Energy can be defined as 'the effect that location of resources has on the politics of states'. The key activator ofthat effect is dependency, which applies both to producers (revenue) and consumers (energy needs). Historically it has been the threat to supply rather than to price which has caused most concern to the consumers, and this culminated in the Gulf war reaction to Iraq's seizure of Kuwait in 1990. In future the Middle East and OECD as a focus of energy geopolitics will be supplemented, it not replaced, by Russia, Central Asia, China, India and the Far East as those areas increasingly influence both the supply and demand balance for both oil and gas.