Cross-Country Analysis of the Comparative Efficiency of Government Support for Coal and Lignite Production

Abstract

In this research, we applied the DEA method (data envelopment analysis) for a cross-country analysis of the comparative efficiency of government support for coal production in eight countries: The leading producers of coal and lignite, three OECD countries with developed economies (the USA, Germany, and Australia), four BRICS countries with developing economies and emerging markets (China, India, Russia, and South Africa), and Indonesia -the largest producer of coal and lignite in Southeast Asia from 2013 to 2018. An extended version of the DEA method allowed us to evaluate not only technicalities, but also price efficiency of budget support for natural gas production in the considered countries. The data for the empirical model characterizing the volume of financial support to oil producers through budgetary transfers and tax expenditures was taken from the OECD statistical base. The obtained results indicate low efficiency of state support for coal and lignite production in Russia, the industry that is responsible for the largest generation and emission of greenhouse gases. In accordance with international obligations, Russia should solve this problem. To achieve this goal, the government should legislatively limit the funding of coal projects and exclude coal projects from the sphere of credit and export agencies, development banks, and state banks.

Evolutionary Game Research on the Impact of Environmental Regulation on Overcapacity in Coal Industry

“…e government provides many subsidies to thermal power plants every year. Although subsidies may lead to inefficient use of resources [61], appropriate subsidies are necessary to transform the coal and power industries.…”

Electromobility and Renewable Energy Sources: Comparison of Attitudes and Infrastructure in Poland and Germany

“…The Polish energy market is characterized by a large share of hard coal in electricity production. In 2020, this share was around 70%, which was one of the highest rates in Europe [41][42][43]. At the same time, Poland committed itself to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the aim of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.…”

Impact of peat industry development on regional sustainability

“…But on the other hand, within the energy efficiency framework, many scientists justify the feasibility of using peat in heat supply as a regional energy carrier (Juutinen et al, 2019). Especially in depressed regions due to rising gas and coal prices, a return to an alternative energy source may become relevant in the domestic market (Juutinen et al, 2019;Vasiljeva et al, 2019;Karaev et al, 2020a;Chikunov et al, 2018). However, it should focus that indeed this statement about the economic feasibility of using peat as a fuel depends on local conditions: the availability of alternative fuels in the region, climatic conditions, the scale of peat deposits, the distance of peat, and alternative fuel transportation, the availability of appropriate peat mining and processing staff, the potentially possible range of peat usage as fuel and source of electricity (Mugerwa et al, 2019;Pakere & Blumberga, 2017;Juutinen et al, 2019).…”