French gvt just tabled a new law that basically scraps renewable energy targets in France and reinstates nuclear as the main source of low-carbon electricity.
LEAK: Gas will not be considered a "transition" fuel under the EU's green finance taxonomy.
The "sustainable" label was always out of the question for fossil gas but failing to win a "transition" label came as a surprise to the industry.
THREAD (1/4)
EU's 2022 coal stats from
@EURACOAL
are out.
- Germany is still the undisputed
#1
coal country in Europe, not the green champions they're claiming to be 🤥
- Much of it is not even locally produced, it's imported 😬
👉Full report:
Paris and Berlin have added their names to a growing list of EU capitals asking for the European Green Deal to be placed at the heart of the EU’s post-pandemic recovery plan.
Nuclear vs renewables: Two camps clash in Brussels.
It must be stressed though that the pro-nuclear camp does not oppose renewables while the "friends of renewables" are fiercely anti-nuclear.
By
@Paul_Messad
.
Leaked EU power market reform lists technologies eligible for support schemes:
(a) wind energy
(b) solar energy
(c) geothermal energy
(d) hydropower without reservoir
(e) nuclear energy
The French are going to loooove this.
🔴LEAK: France wins recognition for nuclear in EU’s green hydrogen rules. By
@NKurmayer
.
🤓Geek alert: includes hydrogen "additionality" delegated act + annex specifying CO2 emission thresholds. Enjoy your weekend.
LEAK: EU Commission considering higher renewable energy target for 2030.
Package of proposals also includes a shiny new solar strategy that could make rooftop solar mandatory for all new buildings.
By
@KiraTaylor15
.
Fun fact for beer lovers: the S&D group have Barley as new European Parliament VP, RE have Beer and EPP have McGuiness. Suggest these people meet at the pub one day.
Objection to the inclusion of nuclear and gas in EU green finance taxonomy is rejected: 278 votes in favour, 328 votes against.
This means the proposal goes through: nuclear and gas are now officially recognised as "transitional" activities under the taxonomy.
Marine Le Pen condamne "sans ambiguïté" l'agression russe en Ukraine mais s'oppose en même temps à des sanctions qui nuiraient aux intérêts économiques de la France.
C'est impossible et elle le sait. En disant cela, elle a choisit son camp, celui de M. Poutine.
In this week's Green Brief, I explain why Brussels needs to overcome its nuclear aversion.
Essentially, the EU has no choice but to acknowledge the energy choices made by its member states, as long as they meet common EU goals.
My take:
'Great news': EU hails discovery of massive phosphate rock deposit in Norway.
Phosphorous is used mainly as a fertiliser but also in the manufacturing of solar panels, lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, semiconductors and computer chips.
More:👇
This is starting to be embarrassing for the
@EPPGroup
whose claims for rejecting the EU's nature restoration law are being debunked by the very industries they were meant to defend.
BREAKING: Birkenstocks are no longer German after EU regulators gave the green light to a takeover bid from US private equity firm L Catterton.
After doubling their climate target, it seems the US is really getting serious about brushing up their environmental credentials.
LEAKED: Europe’s draft 'green recovery' plan.
Focus is on building renovation, renewables and hydrogen as well as clean mobility and the circular economy, according to a leaked working document.
Details and link to full doc here:
A remarkable alliance in the European Parliament to make the disbursement of EU funds conditional on respect for the rule of law. The message to Poland and Hungary couldn't be clearer.
China will present its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (
#NDC
) for
#COP26
today, EU journalists just heard from insider sources in Brussels. To be confirmed of course but this is a positive signal.
📢JOB NEWS
Excited to announce that I’ll be joining
@CarbonPulse
on 26 Feb, as Head of EMEA.
Really honoured to join such a great team, and looking forward to share insights and learn from them.
Tips or coffee? Email me: fred
@carbon
-pulse.com.
🔴French-led nuclear alliance calls for new 'low-carbon' directive
✅Momentum is growing to revise the EU’s climate and energy targets and adopt an approach focused on decarbonisation instead of renewable energies only.
More below, by
@Paul_Messad
📢PERSONAL NEWS KLAXON !!
After 20 years at
@Euractiv
, I will be opening a new exciting chapter in my career on 26 February.
More on that soon but in the meantime here's the job ad below for my replacement.
And now, a quick thread (1/8):
“We know that most politicians don’t want to talk to us,” Thunberg said from the outset.
“Good. We don’t want to talk to them either,” she told EU policymakers today. “We want them to talk to the scientists instead."
That girl has courage, and anger.
LEAK: EU’s 2030 climate plan makes case for 55% emissions cut.
* COVID-19 crisis “offers a unique opportunity to accelerate the transition”
* New renewables target seen in 38-40% range
* Inclusion of transport and agri/forestry in ETS
More: 👉
Biomass loophole exposed: The IEA's
@fbirol
has acknowledged “weaknesses” in how biomass is counted in energy statistics after several EU countries reported a sudden increase in residential wood burning to meet their 2020 renewable energy goals. By me.
If anyone is wondering why I'm not tweeting about the
#EUCO
summit in Brussels, it's because I'm cooking sausages in the Alps. (Follow
@BeaRios_
and
@SamJamesMorgan
for updates from
@EURACTIV
.)
Investing in new nuclear is "bad for the climate", green advocates say.
New nuclear is "a costly and dangerous distraction" from renewables in climate change fight, they argue.
👉 Not new as such, but at least greens now make their motives explicit.
LEAKED: Europe’s draft hydrogen strategy
"Clear priority" is GreenH2, while GreyH2 made from fossil gas is ruled out. BlueH2 (fossil gas with CCS) ok in the transition.
Overall aim is to scale up production of GreenH2 to bring costs down to €1-2/kg.
Austria ready to sue EU over nuclear's inclusion in green finance taxonomy.
“Yes, if the EU taxonomy includes nuclear energy, we are ready to challenge that in court,” said
@lgewessler
, Austria's energy and climate minister.
By
@NKurmayer
.
Others were delighted. “That’s the world we’re in now: fossil gas is not sustainable,” said
@CoalFreeDave
.
“It’s perhaps disappointing even that the taxonomy didn’t set zero as the threshold,” Jones told EURACTIV.
(4/4)
4 EU countries out of 27 express outright opposition to gas and nuclear in the bloc's green finance taxonomy.
This is way below the minimum 20 country threshold that is needed to reject the proposal.
Not long ago, people in EU policy circles were referring to the €50/ton as some kind of distant prospect that will trigger all sorts of wonders like commercial CCS. In fact, it is probably more like a minimum benchmark.
Intellectuals urge Germany to keep nuclear plants online.
Among the 25 signatories include Guardian columnist
@GeorgeMonbiot
who is known for his environmental activism.
Enough to make Germany make a U-turn on nuclear?
By
@NKurmayer
.
BREAKING: details of the deal on CO2 emission standards for cars and vans.
Confirms the 100% emissions reduction target for new vehicles as of 2035, which effectively spells the end of the internal combustion engine.
RIP
#FitFor55
| 🤝 DEAL! We have just reached a provisional political agreement between the
@EUCouncil
and the
@Europarl_EN
on the CO2 emission standards for cars and vans 🚙💨
This is the first agreed proposal from the Fit for 55 package.
#EU2022CZ
More ⬇️
Timmermans defended higher EU goals on climate change saying they make "even more sense now" after the COVID-19 outbreak.
"The cost of climate action may be high but it is dwarfed by the cost of inaction," he said in a speech yesterday.
Details here 👉:
Russia's credibility as a reliable gas supplier is damaged beyond repair. Getting Russian gas out of Europe's energy system has now become a security imperative.
The war will reshape Europe’s tolerance for relying on Russian energy. No doubt. Eventually it will rewire the Eurasian energy system. But this is years away. How can Europe safeguard its energy system now?
Les 5 à 10 prochains hivers seront terribles si on ne fait rien. Il faut agir à la source, au niveau européen et travailler sur un blocage des prix pour le gaz. On pourrait ainsi réduire la facture énergétique de 770 euros.
EXCLUSIVE: Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Spain have sent a joint letter to the EU Commission calling for a 100% renewable energy scenario in the EU's long-term climate projections.
Full story with link to letter here, by me.
We will also assess how the gas, electricity and ETS markets function.
We need more renewables. They are cheaper, carbon-free and homegrown.
We also need a stable source, nuclear, and during the transition, gas.
This is why we will come forward with our taxonomy proposal.
Here are the emission thresholds considered under the draft rules:
- 100gCO2e/kWh for "sustainable" and "transition" label
- 262gCO2e/kWh for "do no harm" label: opens door for 30% blending of H2 and biomethane into natural gas
- 94gCO2e/kWh for hydrogen. Implies CCS
(2/4)
Uh-hem, this wasn't a
@politcoEurope
story but one that my colleague
@BertuzLuca
broke out for
@EURACTIV
.
Would be nice if you guys could rectify. Or simply admit that others too can get scoops from time to time 😉
Commission confirms
@POLITICOEurope
#TikTok
story
The decision is "in line with our strict internal cyber security policies. It compliments the long-standing Commission advice to staff to apply best practices when using social media platforms."
#EU
#China
LEAK: The European Commission plans to table a ‘climate taxonomy’ next week, covering mainly renewable energies.
Decision on gas and nuclear is left for later decision by the Parliament and EU member states, acting as co-legislators.
More + full doc:
LEAK: Eight EU governments (FR, NL, BE, SE, DK, ES, PT, LUX) launch appeal to boost EU
#ClimateAction
ahead of
#SibiuSummit
on the future of Europe taking place in Romania next Thursday (9 May). DE, IT and PL notably absent from the list of signatories.
Flexibility in power sector could slash consumer bills by €71 billion, study finds
First-of-its-kind study by
@DNV_Group
for
@smartEnEU
also evaluates renewable energy curtailment could be 61% less than what it is today (15.5 TWh) by 2030.
More:
This interview with
@BasEickhout
is worth a read. The
@europeangreens
will be prized allies in the new EU Parliament -- maybe even kingmakers -- so his analysis of the new post-election landscape matters.
#EUelections2019
.
EXCLUSIVE: EU to push new standards for ‘greenest’ car batteries on earth.
New EU regulation will impose “mandatory requirements for the greenest, safest and most sustainable batteries on this planet,” said Commission VP
@MarosSefcovic
.
More: 👉
Balearic islands adopt new law committing them to reach 100% clean energy by 2050, phase out diesel cars and shut down Mallorca’s coal power plant, both by 2025. New petrol cars nixed in 2035 and car hire business going all-electric as well. By Amanda Lee.
The EU's €750bn recovery fund will have green strings attached, with 25% of funding reserved for climate action.
Spending will be aligned with the EU's green finance taxonomy, with a "do no harm" test to exclude fossil fuels funding.
Details here:
.
@NKurmayer
in today's Green Brief: "German politicians are so deeply entrenched in their ideological certainties that they would rather continue funding the Kremlin’s war effort than extend the lifetime of the country’s last three nuclear plants."
Ouch.
Access to the EU's €750bn recovery fund should be linked to member states committing to the EU's climate targets for 2050 and 2030, says a cross-party group of MEPs in the European Parliament.
More detail here: 👉
The level of confusion in the energy chapter of those EU summit conclusions is pretty exceptional, and I've seen a few. EU diplomacy at its worst: everyone gets to hold the pen and place a phrase here and there. Does not bode well.
JOB ALERT: Folks, there is a rare opening for a journo to join the
@EURACTIV
team in Brussels to cover energy, climate and transport issues related to the Green Deal.
As an added bonus, that person will have the privilege of working with me!
Apply here:
LEAKED: Paper on gas and nuclear’s inclusion in EU green finance rules.
Draft "non-paper" lays out technical criteria for natural gas to qualify as a "transitional activity" under the EU's sustainable finance taxonomy.
More here (incl. full document):
LEAK: An updated draft of the EU’s hydrogen strategy confirms the "priority focus" on H2 produced from renewable electricity, but also recognises the role played by “fossil-based hydrogen” in the transition.
Article w/ link to full doc here:
#Taxonomy
update: EU Commission is considering a new "amber" category for nuclear and gas, which are not "green" as such but still useful for the energy transition. EC also considering whether to re-define "transitional" activites. Proposal delayed until next year.
McGuinness says Brussels looking how to design an "amber" category to assuage concerns about investment for non-green technologies: “If all the money flows towards green [activities] today, there will be bucketloads of money that would have no room to go"
BREAKING: compromise deal on ETS reform by
@EPPGroup
,
@TheProgressives
and
@RenewEurope
.
Key elements (acc. to
@JytteGuteland
):
* 2027-2032: phase out date for free allowances
* LRF: 4.6% in 2029 instead of 4.5%
* Ambition: slightly above 63%
Plenary vote on 22 June.
The energy ministers of Algeria, Niger & Nigeria have agree to restart the development of a Trans-Saharan gas pipeline (30 Bcm/year) capacity to bring Nigerian gas to Algeria and then European markets.
A 4,128 km, $13 billion pipeline which would ensure the monetisation of🇳🇪🇳🇬gas
🚨Job arlert🚨
@EURACTIV
is recruiting a reporter in Brussels to cover EU energy and environmt policy, to replace star journo
@KiraTaylor15
✅Full-time contract under Belgian law
✅Part of a intl team across Paris, Brussels and Berlin
Apply here👉:
This is the "moral hazard" question reminiscent of the euro currency crisis: should other EU countries aid Germany whose bad policy decisions put Europe in this situation? Will a troïka be appointed to force changes in Germany's energy sector in exchange for the EU's solidarity?
🇪🇸🇬🇷🇵🇹🇵🇱🇨🇾 have already come out strongly against Wednesday's rationing proposal, with Spain's energy minister dealing this devastating line emulating Merkel a decade ago:
"Contrary to other countries, Spain hasn't been living beyond its means in energy terms."
A group of self-proclaimed “faceless” EU civil servants have decided to put their hands in their pockets to build a European solidarity fund for people in COVID-hit regions like Spain and northern Italy.
The EU’s
#CarbonBudget
for staying below 2°C was based on a probability level of only 2 out of 3. No engineer would ever build a bridge with only 2 chances out of 3 of getting to the other side, says
@JPvanYpersele
.
#LowCarbonEU2050
.
#2050isNow
.
EU is a global leader on tidal and wave energy, says
@IRENA
chief
@flacamera
.
* Potential of wave energy is 29,500 TWh/year, enough to meet all global energy demand.
* 10 GW of ocean energy deployment worldwide "possible by 2030."
Full interview: 👉
Considering the limited amount of green hydrogen available, the European Commission should prioritise its use in sectors that cannot decarbonise through other means like electrification, write MEPs
@Miriamdalli
and
@MChahim
.
The EU Commission will launch a new industry alliance on 3 Sept. as part of a broader plan to secure supplies of raw materials seen as critical for the digital and green transitions.
Lithium, bauxite, strontium, and titanium will be added to an EU list of critical raw materials