The European Union intends to include nuclear energy and natural gas in green energy, which Germany and other countries oppose but are afraid to stop

The Paper's reporter Yan Songyang

Recently, the European Commission plans to conditionally include nuclear energy and natural gas in the "green energy" classification to promote investment in these projects, which has once again sparked controversy over these two energy sources, especially nuclear energy. Member states, represented by Germany, do not agree to include nuclear energy in the classification, but the analysis believes that its opposition is unlikely to succeed.

There are requirements for the construction of new power stations

According to media reports such as Reuters and Bloomberg, the European Commission sent a draft proposal to member states on December 31 last year, indicating that the European Commission plans to temporarily include some nuclear and natural gas projects in the "green energy" classification. The proposal sets out certain requirements for natural gas and nuclear power plants that can be included in the classification: new nuclear power plants need to be approved for construction by 2045 and meet a series of criteria to prevent major environmental hazards; natural gas power plants must be used to replace coal power, carbon dioxide emissions are not higher than 270 grams per kilowatt-hour, construction approvals are obtained by 2030, and the transition to renewable energy or low-carbon fuel gases by the end of 2035.

The "green energy" classification, known in its entirety as the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities, aims to guide private capital to withdraw from polluting economic activities and in favour of the more environmentally friendly industries listed by the EU. Bloomberg said the classification is closely watched by global investors and could attract billions of euros of private investment. The Commission's previous classification of solar, geothermal, hydrogen, wind, hydro and bioenergy was delayed in April and has been controversial.

Although nuclear power has certain safety risks, there are almost no greenhouse gas emissions; natural gas, although fossil energy, has low carbon emissions and pollution, and is widely regarded as an important energy source in the transition to renewable energy. The European Commission issued a statement on January 1 this year saying that natural gas and nuclear energy can play a role in the transition to renewable energy.

For the new EU regulations, the debate around nuclear energy is the loudest. Eu countries have long been divided into two camps because of their attitudes towards nuclear energy: France, Finland, the Czech Republic and other countries support nuclear energy as a green energy source, these countries are more dependent on nuclear power, France's nuclear power generation accounted for even 70%, the world's highest; Austria, Luxembourg, Spain, Germany and other countries oppose nuclear energy, these countries either do not have nuclear power plants, or are gradually shutting down nuclear power.

Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger welcomed the EU's new proposal on social platforms on Jan. 2, saying "we cannot achieve climate neutrality (the goal) without nuclear energy". Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler, a member of the Green Party, said on the same day that Austria would file a lawsuit if the EU did classify nuclear energy. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, Spain's Ministry of Ecological Transition said nuclear energy and natural gas should be placed in the "yellow classification", that is, "medium energy" category.

Germany's "entanglement"

Germany, the largest economy in the European Union, is vigorously promoting "coal withdrawal" and "nuclear abandonment", coupled with the formation of a new three-party government, its official attitude has attracted much attention. As for whether nuclear energy and natural gas are included in the "green energy" classification, the German government spokesman gave a "half-opposition and half-welcome" statement, and the controversy also exposed the differences between different parties within the German government.

On nuclear energy, an unnamed spokesman for the German government said on January 2 that the new government adhered to the previous government's opposition position that "nuclear power plants cannot be classified as sustainable (projects)". The spokesman welcomed the inclusion of natural gas projects in the classification, saying that in the context of the gradual shutdown of nuclear and coal power, natural gas is an "important transition technology" to reach the goal of neutralization of greenhouse gases.

However, the Greens' deputy prime minister and minister for economic affairs and climate action, Robert Habeck, and environment minister Steffi Lemke, have been critical of the inclusion of natural gas in the green energy classification. Reuters published an article pointing out that the three parties did not agree on the EU green energy classification in last year's cabinet negotiations.

In addition, according to the Us political news website Politico Europe reported on January 3, some Green Party members and environmental activists said that the SPD Prime Minister Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron reached an exchange agreement to support each other's demands to list natural gas and nuclear energy as green energy. In response, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit came out on January 3 to "cool down", saying that the German government "explicitly rejected" the European Commission's positioning of nuclear energy. He also stressed that the three parties of the joint cabinet are in agreement on nuclear energy and also agree on the status of natural gas as a transitional energy source.

Natural gas is a controversial topic in Germany. Nord Stream-2, a submarine pipeline project that transports natural gas from Russia to Germany, has been sanctioned by the United States for a long time, and is still in the approval process in Germany, and has not yet been officially ventilated, and the Green Party has always opposed this project.

The EU proposal for nuclear and natural gas also needs to be reviewed by EU countries and a panel of experts. Reuters quoted German government sources as saying that Germany's three-party leader has decided to abstain in the EU vote to avoid conflict with the European Commission. Politico reports that EU member states opposed to nuclear energy do not have the required majority (at least 20 member states, covering 65 percent of the population), and it is unlikely that a majority of members of the European Parliament will oppose the Commission's proposal.

Responsible editor: Hu Zhenqing Photo editor: Shi Jiahui

Proofreader: Luan Meng