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Energy policy is the manner a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy production, distribution and consumption. The attributes of energy policy may include legislation, international treaties, incentives to investment, guidelines for energy conservation, taxation and other public policy techniques.

Contents 1 National energy policy 1.1 Measures used to produce an energy policy 1.2 Factors within an energy policy 2 State, province or municipal energy policy 3 United States 4 Europe 4.1 European Union 4.2 Russia 4.3 United Kingdom 5 Asia 5.1 Thailand 5.2 India 6 See also 7 External links 8 Quotes

A national energy policy is comprised of a set of measures involving that country's laws, treaties and agency directives. The energy policy of a sovereign nation may include one or more of the following measures:

• statement of national policy regarding energy generation, transmission and usage
• legislation on commercial energy activities (trading, transport, storage, etc.)
• legislation affecting energy use, such as efficiency standards, emission standards
• instructions for state owned energy sector assets and organizations
• active participation in, co-ordination of and incentives for mineral fuels exploration (see geological survey) and other energy-related research and development
• fiscal policies related to energy products and services (taxes, exemptions, subsidies ...
• international policy measures such as:
  • international energy sector treaties and alliances,
  • general international trade agreements,
  • special relations with energy-rich countries, including military presence and/or domination.

Frequently the dominant issue of energy policy is the risk of supply-demand mismatch (see: energy crisis). Current energy policies also address environmental issues (see: climate change). Some governments state explicit energy policy, but, declared or not, each government practices some type of energy policy.

There are a number of elements that are naturally contained in a national energy policy, regardless of which of the above measures was used to arrive at the resultant policy. The chief elements intrinsic to an energy policy are:

• What is the extent of energy self-sufficiency for this nation
• Where future energy sources will derive
• How future energy will be consumed (e.g. among sectors)
• What fraction of the population will be acceptable to endure energy poverty
• What are the goals for future energy intensity, ratio of energy consumed to GDP
• What is the reliability standard for distribution reliability
• What environmental externalities are acceptable and are forecast
• What form of "portable energy" is forecast (e.g. sources of fuel for motor vehicles)
• How will energy efficient hardware (e.g. hybrid vehicles, household appliances) be encouraged
• How can the national policy drive province, state and municipal functions
• What specific mechanisms (e.g. taxes, incentives, manufacturing standards) are in place to implement the total policy

Even within a state it is proper to talk about energy policies in plural. Influential entities, such as municipal or regional governments and energy industries, will each exercise policy. Policy measures available to these entities are lesser in sovereignty, but may be equally important to national measures. In fact, there are certain activities vital to energy policy which realistically cannot be administered at the national level, such as monitoring energy conservation practices in the process of building construction, which is normally controlled by state-regional and municipal building codes (although can appear basic federal legislation).

Main article: Energy policy of the United States

Main article: Energy policy of the European Union

Although the European Union has legislated, set targets, and negotiated internationally in the area of energy policy for many years, and evolved out of the European Coal and Steel Community, the concept of introducing a mandatory common European Union energy policy was only approved at the meeting of the European Council on October 27, 2005 in London. Following this the first policy proposals, Energy for a Changing World, were published by the European Commission, on January 10, 2007.

Main article: Energy policy of Russia

Russia, one of the world's energy superpowers, is rich in natural energy resources, the world’s leading net energy exporter, and a major supplier to the European Union. The main document defining the energy policy of Russia] is the Energy Strategy, which sets out policy for the period up to 2020. Russia has also signed the Kyoto Protocol.

Main article: Energy policy of the United Kingdom

The energy policy of the United Kingdom has achieved success in (a) reducing energy intensity, (b) reducing energy poverty and (c) maintaining energy supply reliability to date. The United Kingdom has an ambitious goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions for future years, but it is unclear whether the programs in place are sufficient to achieve this objective. Regarding energy self sufficiency, the United Kingdom policy does not address this issue, other than to concede historic energy self sufficiency is currently ceasing to exist. With regard to transport, the United Kingdom has a historically good policy record encouraging public transport; however, the policy does not significantly encourage hybrid vehicle use or ethanol fuel use, which programs represent the most viable near term means to gain control over rising transport fuel consumption. Regarding renewable energy, the United Kingdom has laudable and attainable goals for wind and tidal energy, but it has acted inconsistently to stimulate these sectors.

Main article: Energy Industry Liberalization and Privatization (Thailand)

The energy policy of Thailand is characterized by 1) increasing energy consumption efficiency, 2) increasing domestic energy production, 3) increasing the private sector's role in the energy sector, 4) increasing the role of market mechanisms in setting energy prices. These policies have been consistent since the 1990s, despite various changes in governments. The pace and form of industry liberalization and privatization has been highly controversial.

Main article: Energy policy of India

The energy policy of India is characterized by tradeoffs between four major drivers:

• Rapidly growing economy, with a need for dependable and reliable supply of electricity, gas, and petroleum products;
• Increasing household incomes, with a need for affordable and adequate supply of electricity, and clean cooking fuels;
• Limited domestic reserves of fossil fuels, and the need to import a vast fraction of the gas, crude oil, and petroleum product requirements, and recently the need to import coal as well; and
• Indoor, urban and regional environmental impacts, necessitating the need for the adoption of cleaner fuels and cleaner technologies.

In recent years, these challenges have led to a major set of continuing reforms, restructuring and a focus on energy conservation.

See also: Jatropha incentives in India and United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act

• Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change
• Energy: world resources and consumption
• Energy
• Energy development
• Energy planning
• Energy balance
• Nuclear power
• Energy security
• Energy and Environmental Security Initiative (EESI)
• Energie-Cités
• Category:Energy policy by country

• "Geopolitics of EU energy supply", EurActiv, July 2005
• "Our energy future - creating a low carbon economy", UK, February 2003
• Final report on the Green Paper "Towards a European strategy for the security of energy supply", EU, June 2004
• "Energy Policies of (Country x)" series, International Energy Agency
• Report of President Bush's National Energy Policy Group, May 2001
• Yahoo News Full Coverage: Energy Policy
• UN-Energy - Global energy policy co-ordination
• Energy & Environmental Security Initiative (EESI)
• Renewable Energy Policy Network (REN21)

"Communism is the rule of soviets plus the electrification of the whole country." Vladimir Ilich Lenin

"Our decision about energy will test the character of the American people and the ability of the President and the Congress to govern this Nation. This difficult effort will be the “moral equivalent of war,” except that we will be uniting our efforts to build and not to destroy". Jimmy Carter, address to the nation on the energy problem, April 18, 1977.

"What we have now is a global economy that needs oil to grow. What we need are options to achieve that growth while, at the same time lessening, our dependence on fossil fuels and increasing our use of cleaner, more secure sources of energy. In short, we need to diversify. Doing so will not be cheap and will not be easy. But it is, most certainly, necessary. In fact, everything depends on it. So let’s get to it." U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, speech at Harvard Business School Global Leadership Forum, June 22, 2006.