The EU needs nuclear power to meet the upcoming 2040 climate target. This is according to the EU Commission's new Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen.
On Monday, he participated in his first ministerial meeting as EU Commissioner. He delivered a reassuring message to France and other EU countries that want to keep nuclear power as part of their energy mix. According to Dan Jørgensen, there will not just be room for nuclear power in the EU in the future. It will be needed to meet the EU's climate target.
- The EU Commission believes that the 2040 target should be a 90% reduction in emissions. This means that we must use all tools. Renewable energy will be the cornerstone of our energy policy in the future. But we also need nuclear power, says Dan Jørgensen.
New climate target
He is thus referring to the fact that the EU Commission is seeking support for a new climate target. The EU currently aims to become climate neutral by 2050. But there are concerns that the target is so far in the future that sufficient political action will not be taken to achieve it.
The EU Commission has therefore proposed a 2040 target. This amounts to a net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 90 percent in 2040 compared to 1990 levels. This should pave the way for climate neutrality by 2050.
According to the European Commission, the 2040 target will be in line with the latest scientific advice and the EU's commitments under the Paris Agreement.
However, several EU countries with nuclear power are concerned about whether the European Commission will set a renewable energy target that excludes nuclear power. This will put nuclear power at a disadvantage compared to, for example, solar and wind energy.
Although nuclear power plants do not emit CO2, they generate toxic waste, which according to some activists means that nuclear energy should not be classified as green.
According to Reuters, both France's Energy Minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, and Sweden's Energy Minister, Ebba Busch, are concerned that nuclear energy will be excluded from the target.
- Is it more important to have a specific target for renewable energy, where you can manipulate the statistics, for example by closing nuclear power plants?
- Or is the main goal fossil-free and clean energy production in Europe?, says Sweden's Ebba Busch according to Reuters.
Wants to maintain definitions
Dan Jørgensen emphasizes that all "clean" forms of energy are needed in the EU. That means both renewable energy and nuclear power.
- Does that mean we will mix it up in one target? No, I don't think that would be a wise way to do it. I think we should keep the definitions we already have in our renewable energy target when we create a new target.
- But we must of course set the target and formulate the policy behind the target in a way that makes room for other CO2-free forms of energy, including nuclear power, says Dan Jørgensen.
/ritzau/
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