Electrek Green Energy Brief: A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news.

Today on EGEB, a new ICO aims to deploy crypto-currency to bring solar power to Third World countries. The U.S. Department of Energy is considering nationalizing failing dirty utility providers and energy producers for the sake of “national security”. Indian coal industry is in serious trouble as it’s being outclassed by its solar competitors. expand full story

The biofuel and oil industries, which were both heavily subsidized over the years, are now working together to lobby against electric vehicle incentives under the pretext that they are seeking “a level playing field”.

Their respective main lobbying groups made the announcement this week. expand full story

In its latest ‘World Energy outlook’ report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that fossil-fuel subsidies dropped sharply by 35% last year – from almost $500 billion in 2014 to $325 billion in 2015. It’s a significant improvement, but the industry remains largely over-subsidized relative to the renewable energy industry, which receives about half the monetary value in subsidies – $150 billion. expand full story

The Divestment movement, which aims at convincing people to remove their money from fossil fuel investments, has been picking up steam over the past year. A new report that came out this week claims that it has reached a commitment of over $5.2 trillion in assets from 688 institutions and 58,399 individuals across 76 countries over the last 5 years. expand full story