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Brussels faces a lawsuit from E.U. member states accusing it of favoring pro-nuclear and pro-gas countries after moving to include natural gas and nuclear energy as forms of green energy.
The Financial Times reported that the designation came in its “taxonomy for sustainable finance” paper, which aims to point private companies and capital to activities considered to be environmentally sustainable.
The 27 countries that make up the European Union have disagreements on how nuclear power and natural gas can be considered “green.”
Mairead McGuinness, the E.U. commissioner for financial services, admitted that the unrevised final text could be imperfect, “but it’s a real solution that moves us forward towards our ultimate goal of climate neutrality.”
“The taxonomy does not mandate investment in certain sectors. It does not prohibit investment in sectors covered. It is a signpost towards the private investment market,” she said.
The report said new nuclear power stations will be able to qualify for the green label prior to 2045 if countries are able to lay out how they will be able to handle waste management and decommissioning. Both nuclear and natural gas could be classified as a “sustainable investment” if they meet targets that have been put in place.
One of the key debates hinges on what to do with nuclear waste produced in these nuclear power plants. The U.K. government is looking for a location to bury more than 50 years’ worth of toxic nuclear waste about half a mile underground.
The FT reported that the boroughs of Allerdale and Copeland in Cumbria are potential sites. The report last week said this is the fourth attempt by the government to find a location for the waste. The report said any location will have to store the waste for 100,000 years before it reaches safe levels.
The U.K. has plans for more nuclear plants with the aim of reducing its carbon emissions. The U.K. already relies on nuclear energy for 17 percent of its electricity.
“If you were sat right on top of one of those [high-level waste] containers you would be dead within several hours,” Dr. Claire Corkhill, an expert on underground nuclear waste storage, told the paper.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has said the best storage for the waste is in geological disposal facilities, which would be placed in metal or concrete containers and sealed permanently in vaults hundreds of yards below solid rock, the paper reported.
“I cannot understand the decision of the E.U.,” Karl Nehammer, Austria’s chancellor, said, according to the BBC.
The report said that he plans legal action if the guidance goes forward. Luxembourg has also said it will join legal action, the report said. France, which is a country that relies on nuclear power, has supported the decision.
The BBC report pointed out that the E.U. was not requiring any member state to take action, but the “E.U. Taxonomy” was just intended to show private investors how to invest in green initiatives.
Critics have called the classification system “greenwashing,” which is considered a symbolic gesture in order to create a misleading pro-environmental image. The report said the labels have not been finalized. Green parties have also been vocal critics of the plans.
TREND FORECAST: As we have forecast, it will be a long haul before the world goes “Green.” There will not be a fast move to alternative energies until new ones that are affordable, efficient and truly “sustainable,” are invented.
And as for nuclear energy as an energy of the future, please see: