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ENVIRONMENT

EU moves to label nuclear and gas energy as ‘green’

The EU is planning to label energy from nuclear power and natural gas as "green" sources for investment despite internal disagreement over whether they truly qualify as sustainable options.

Published: 1 January 2022 20:57 CET
The cooling towers of Civaux nuclear plant are seen over the clouds
The cooling towers of Civaux nuclear plant are seen over the clouds on November 10th, 2021 in Chatellerault, western France. France has led the charge for nuclear power to be included as 'green' energy sources. Guillaume SOUVANT / AFP

The proposal, seen by AFP on Saturday, aims to support the 27-nation bloc’s shift towards a carbon-neutral future and gild its credentials as a global standard-setter for fighting climate change.

But the fact the European Commission quietly distributed the text to member states late Friday, in the final hours of 2021 after the much-delayed document had been twice promised earlier in the year, highlighted the rocky road to draft it.

If a majority of member states back it, it will become EU law, coming into effect from 2023.

The commission confirmed on Saturday that it has started consulting with member states on the proposal where it covers nuclear and gas energy.

“The activities covered in this complementary Delegated Act would accelerate the phase out of more harmful sources, such as coal, and in moving us towards a more low-carbon greener energy mix,” it said.

It said it “considers there is a role for natural gas and nuclear as a means to facilitate the transition towards a predominantly renewable-based future”.

France has led the charge for nuclear power — its main energy source — to be included, despite robust opposition from Austria and scepticism from Germany, which is in the process of shutting all its nuclear plants.

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Germany’s Environment Minister Steffi Lemke told German media group Funke on Saturday that including gas and nuclear would be “a mistake”, arguing that atomic power “can lead to devastating environmental catastrophes”.

Austrian Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler also criticised the project, denouncing nuclear power as “an energy of the past” that was “too expensive and too slow” to combat climate change.

Conditions attached
Fossil-reliant countries in the EU’s east and south have defended the use of natural gas, at least as a transitional source, even though it still produces significant greenhouse emissions.

“It is necessary to recognise that the fossil gas and nuclear energy sectors can contribute to the decarbonisation of the Union’s economy,” the commission proposal says.

It added that, for nuclear power, appropriate measures should be put in place for radioactive waste management and disposal.

Its proposal calls for the building of new nuclear power plants to be conditioned on permits given out before 2045, and work to extend the functioning of existing plants would need to be authorised before 2040.

For gas, it said that carbon-emission limits should be set to well below those produced by coal-burning plants, and it should only be a transitionary source with plants needing building permits given before 2031.

The member states and experts consulted by the commission have two weeks to demand revisions to the proposal before a final draft is published in mid-January.

The European Parliament would then have four months to either approve or reject the text with a simple vote.

Member comments

  2. France and Germany did this. Understandable since they failed to build green infrastructure and now they want to ride this out – as a bridge Technology. Also, it is just about investments. Stakeholders could still only invest in real green technologies. We know they wont, a quick dime i guess. Sweden will also ride out their nuclear power plants but as a country should invest more into regenerative power. Otherwise middle and southern sweden will pay the bill for the energy hungry german industry. Btw 1kwh windrotor is only 2500€, suffices for most baseline consumption.

  3. “fossil gas … can contribute to decarbonisation” has to be the most absurd sentence I’ve read in a long time. If it burns fuel that produces CO2, it’s not green.

    By this logic, coal is good for the environment because burning cow patties is worse.

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PARIS

Huge new River Seine stormwater facility opens ahead of Paris Olympics

It has no spire, stained glass windows or nave but the cavernous underground stormwater facility inaugurated on Thursday in the French capital ahead of the Paris Olympics has been compared to Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Published: 2 May 2024 12:35 CEST
Huge new River Seine stormwater facility opens ahead of Paris Olympics

The giant new structure, burrowed 30 metres under the ground next to a train station, is a key part of efforts to clean up the River Seine, which is set to host swimming events during the Paris Games in July and August.

“It’s a real cathedral. It’s something exceptional,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Thursday as she walked on the bottom of the vast cylinder-shaped construction that has taken more than three years to complete.

Deputy Paris mayor Antoine Guillou has compared the project in western Paris, near the Austerlitz transport hub, to Notre-Dame, which is under reconstruction after a devastating fire in 2019.

“I like to say that we’re building two cathedrals,” he told reporters during a visit in mid-March.

“There’s the one above ground that everyone knows – Notre-Dame. And then there’s the one underground.”

Notre-Dame will not be ready in time for the Paris Games, as promised by President Emmanuel Macron immediately after the inferno that tore through the 850-year-old masterpiece.

But its spire has been restored and workers are busy working on the roof ahead of its grand re-opening in December.

Fortunately for Olympic open-water swimmers, the stormwater facility is set to enter service in June after tests later this month.

Its role will be to store rainwater in the event of a heavy downpour, reducing the chances of the capital’s sewerage system needing to discharge its pathogen-rich contents directly into the Seine.

Paris’ sanitation system is under immense scrutiny following pledges from Olympic organisers to use the Seine for the marathon swimming and triathlon during the Games, which begin on July 26th.

Cleaning up the river has also been promoted as one the key legacy achievements of Paris 2024, with Hidalgo intending to create three public bathing areas in its waters next year.

One of the features of the sanitation system – which dates from the mid 19th century – is that it collects sewage, domestic waste water and rain water in the same underground tunnels before directing them to treatment plants.

In the event of a major rainstorm, the system becomes overwhelmed, which leads to valves being opened that release excess water containing untreated sewage directly into the Seine.

In the 1990s, this led to around 20 million cubic metres of dirty water containing sewage being discharged every year, according to figures from the mayor’s office.

In recent years, after a multi-decade investment and modernisation programme, the figure has fallen to around 2.0 million m3.

On average, discharges occur around 12 times a year at present.

But with the new facility this number should fall to around two, city officials say.

A major storm or a succession of heavy rains could still lead to the cancellation of the Olympic swimming events.

But chief organiser Tony Estanguet stressed on Thursday that there were contingency plans in place, including being able to delay the races by several days if necessary.

“With all the measures that have been put in place and the planning, we are very confident that the competitions will take place,” he told reporters while he inspected the stormwater facility.

Three Olympic test events had to be cancelled last July and August following heavy rain.

Some swimmers, including Olympic champion Ana Marcela Cunha from Brazil, have called for a Plan B in case the Seine is too dirty.

Olympic open water swimming has frequently been plagued by pollution concerns.

At the end of the test event in 2019 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, swimmers protested against the quality of the water in Tokyo Bay.

At the Rio Olympics in 2016, the prospect of swimming in the polluted Guanabara Bay also made headlines.

Hidalgo and President Emmanuel Macron have promised to take a dip in the Seine before the Paris Games to demonstrate it is safe – just over a century since public swimming was banned there in 1923.

Hidalgo said this would happen in June.

“We’ll give you the date. We’re going to set a time range to do it because in June you can have good weather but there can also be storms,” she said.

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