The European Commission has announced that it intends to include the use of natural gas and nuclear energy as part of its “eco-friendly” investments starting in 2023, as part of the EU’s commitment to drastically reduce greenhouse gases and stop using fossil fuels.
Just two hours before the New Year celebrations, at a time apparently intended to reduce the media’s preoccupation with the announcement, the commission published its recommendations for a “taxonomy of sustainable activities” – a list of “green” investments that this time include the two controversial technologies. By January 12, member states can respond to the document, but it is expected to be approved, even if some of the states oppose it.
According to the proposal, state-of-the-art nuclear reactors, which have a relatively low risk of failure, as well as modern turbines that use natural gas and do not emit more than 100 grams of carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) to produce kilowatt hours of energy will be considered “environmentally friendly”. And will actually receive a “green light” from the Commission for Future Investment starting in 2023.
Environmental activists and organizations working against climate change have criticized the expected move in the past, saying that atomic energy involves great risk to the environment and the need to dump radioactive waste for thousands of years, and that natural gas involves latent emissions along the pipelines that carry methane. A much more powerful greenhouse than carbon dioxide – for the atmosphere. This is in addition to issues such as production, water use, risk of malfunctions and other problems associated with the two technologies.
The Greens in Germany came out against the decision: we will not be able to accept the outline
The commission justified the move by saying that investment in these two areas – natural gas and atomic energy – “will accelerate the exit from more harmful energy sources, such as coal, and lead us towards the use of low-carbon energy sources.”
The German Minister of Economy and Climate, from the Green Party, Robert Habeck, came out yesterday against the proposed outline and said that it was “unacceptable” for the party. The “greens” in Germany grew out of, among other things, a movement opposed to atomic energy, and the issue is a significant part of their platform. “We will not be able to accept the outline in the European Commission,” Dust said, defining the definition of atomic energy as “green” as “wrong” because of the long-term consequences of using it. “It’s very questionable,” he said, “how the practice of ‘greenwashing’ (impersonating ‘green’ policy) is getting to the financial markets.”
The definition reflects the rift within the EU regarding the use of highly atomic energy. While Germany announced the closure of all its nuclear reactors following the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, and closed three of its last six active reactors over the weekend, France is advancing nuclear technology with all its might. Paris aims to leverage its vast experience in the field (70% of France’s electricity is supplied by nuclear reactors) to successfully export reactors to European countries.
If the European Commission does define these two sources as part of the “taxonomy of sustainable activities”, their status will be “upgraded” and become legitimate investments as part of the continent’s green vision, and a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to which the EU is committed by 2050. Of nuclear reactors in the EU countries, or greater reliance on natural gas from Russia, Norway or the Gulf states and the United States (Monzel gas). Coalition of Greens and Conservatives) expresses strong opposition to it, and even threatened to appeal to the European Court of Justice against the classification of atomic energy as “green”.