EU Clean Energy Transition Plan Encounters Resistance from Atomic Energy Advocates
The European Union has encountered a new challenge in its quest to replace fossil fuels with various renewable alternatives; resistance from pro-nuclear energy governments. With solar and wind acting as the main alternatives and the driving force in the EU’s green energy drive, pro-nuclear regimes in the regional bloc say they will not support a green energy goal that doesn’t include atomic energy.
The 27 states that make up the European Union have different views on nuclear energy, a controversial type of energy that generates no greenhouse gas emissions but is widely avoided due to the toxic waste it produces as a byproduct. Nuclear energy barely features in many national plans for green energy and political disputes over it have held back recent EU measures designed to tackle high energy prices and bolster the transition to green energy.
Some campaigners and governments say that although nuclear power plants don’t generate carbon dioxide, atomic energy isn’t ‘clean’ or ‘green’ because, unlike wind or solar, it produces toxic waste. This is in direct opposition to EU nationals that already draw significant portions of their power from atomic energy and plan to make it a big part of their green transition.
Tensions have been high across the regional bloc as a result, especially now that plans to set a 2040 renewable energy target for the EU are taking shape. During a recent Brussels meeting where 12 of the 15 attending nations were members of a pro-nuclear alliance, French energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher noted that several ministers raised concerns about the EU excluding nuclear energy from its 2040 green energy goals.
Swedish energy minister Ebba Busch asked whether specific renewable energy targets were more important than eliminating fossil fuels and achieving carbon neutrality in the EU. Another senior EU nation official said that governments with the votes required to block the EU’s green energy targets had indicated they would oppose the target if atomic energy was excluded.
On the other hand, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen contends that while both nuclear and renewables will be included in the EU’s energy policies, they shouldn’t be combined into a single target. He said combining the two wouldn’t be wise and said the EU should keep maintaining the definitions it has placed in its green energy targets.
EU nations such as Germany and Austria are firmly in the anti-nuclear camp and have repeatedly opposed including nuclear energy in the EU’s clean energy targets. These countries argue that solar and wind have lower costs compared to nuclear and raised questions regarding nuclear energy safety. Germany has already phased out all its nuclear energy plants and Austria is vehemently opposed to atomic power.
France and several other Eastern European nations are on the other end of the nuclear energy spectrum. France currently fulfills most of its energy needs with nuclear power and other nations in East Europe plan to expand their nuclear reactors soon. This camp doesn’t support clean energy goals that exclude nuclear and prefer green energy strategies that incorporate low-carbon atomic power as well.
As those differences in the details of what should or shouldn’t be included in the energy transition targets of the EU bloc are hashed out, mining industry players like Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are pressing ahead with their efforts to ensure that the green energy minerals, such as copper, needed to actualize the transition are readily available.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RFLXF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the GreenEnergyStocks website applicable to all content provided by GES, wherever published or re-published: https://www.greennrgstocks.com/Disclaimer
The European Union has encountered a new challenge in its quest to replace fossil fuels with various renewable alternatives; resistance from pro-nuclear energy governments. With solar and wind acting as the main alternatives and the driving force in the EU’s green energy drive, pro-nuclear regimes in the regional bloc say they will not support a green energy goal that doesn’t include atomic energy.
The 27 states that make up the European Union have different views on nuclear energy, a controversial type of energy that generates no greenhouse gas emissions but is widely avoided due to the toxic waste it produces as a byproduct. Nuclear energy barely features in many national plans for green energy and political disputes over it have held back recent EU measures designed to tackle high energy prices and bolster the transition to green energy.
Some campaigners and governments say that although nuclear power plants don’t generate carbon dioxide, atomic energy isn’t ‘clean’ or ‘green’ because, unlike wind or solar, it produces toxic waste. This is in direct opposition to EU nationals that already draw significant portions of their power from atomic energy and plan to make it a big part of their green transition.
Tensions have been high across the regional bloc as a result, especially now that plans to set a 2040 renewable energy target for the EU are taking shape. During a recent Brussels meeting where 12 of the 15 attending nations were members of a pro-nuclear alliance, French energy minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher noted that several ministers raised concerns about the EU excluding nuclear energy from its 2040 green energy goals.
Swedish energy minister Ebba Busch asked whether specific renewable energy targets were more important than eliminating fossil fuels and achieving carbon neutrality in the EU. Another senior EU nation official said that governments with the votes required to block the EU’s green energy targets had indicated they would oppose the target if atomic energy was excluded.
On the other hand, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen contends that while both nuclear and renewables will be included in the EU’s energy policies, they shouldn’t be combined into a single target. He said combining the two wouldn’t be wise and said the EU should keep maintaining the definitions it has placed in its green energy targets.
EU nations such as Germany and Austria are firmly in the anti-nuclear camp and have repeatedly opposed including nuclear energy in the EU’s clean energy targets. These countries argue that solar and wind have lower costs compared to nuclear and raised questions regarding nuclear energy safety. Germany has already phased out all its nuclear energy plants and Austria is vehemently opposed to atomic power.
France and several other Eastern European nations are on the other end of the nuclear energy spectrum. France currently fulfills most of its energy needs with nuclear power and other nations in East Europe plan to expand their nuclear reactors soon. This camp doesn’t support clean energy goals that exclude nuclear and prefer green energy strategies that incorporate low-carbon atomic power as well.
As those differences in the details of what should or shouldn’t be included in the energy transition targets of the EU bloc are hashed out, mining industry players like Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are pressing ahead with their efforts to ensure that the green energy minerals, such as copper, needed to actualize the transition are readily available.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/RFLXF
Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the GreenEnergyStocks website applicable to all content provided by GES, wherever published or re-published: https://www.greennrgstocks.com/Disclaimer
