WILL EUROPE ABANDON GREEN ENERGY?

WILL EUROPE ABANDON GREEN ENERGY?

 BY JOHN HINDERAKER IN ENERGY POLICY, EUROPE, EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union has led the way in transitioning from fossil fuels to “green” energy, i.e. wind and solar. But that effort has hit a snag: wind and solar don’t work, and energy costs in the EU are skyrocketing. Now a Reuters report suggests that the EU may be thinking about jumping ship:

The European Union has drawn up plans to label some natural gas and nuclear energy projects as “green” investments after a year-long battle between governments over which investments are truly climate-friendly.
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A draft of the Commission’s proposal, seen by Reuters, would label nuclear power plant investments as green if the project has a plan, funds and a site to safely dispose of radioactive waste. To be deemed green, new nuclear plants must receive construction permits before 2045.

Investments in natural gas power plants would also be deemed green if they produce emissions below 270g of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt hour (kWh), replace a more polluting fossil fuel plant, receive a construction permit by Dec. 31 2030 and plan to switch to low-carbon gases by the end of 2035.

If CO2 is the alleged threat to the future of the planet, nuclear power is indisputably “green.” Nuclear plants don’t emit CO2. Disposal of spent fuel rods is an issue, but a minor one–a ridiculously minor one if you think the alternative is destruction of the planet. That is why any environmentalist who doesn’t support nuclear power is an environmentalist who doesn’t actually believe the propaganda he spouts.

Likewise, natural gas emits far less CO2 than coal, and “green” advocates have in any case been building natural gas plants like there’s no tomorrow, because gas is what they burn most of the time, when wind and solar fail to produce electricity.

Meanwhile, the EU’s member countries are sharply split on energy issues:

Austria opposes nuclear power, alongside countries including Germany and Luxembourg. EU states including the Czech Republic, Finland and France, which gets around 70% of its power from the fuel, see nuclear as crucial to phasing out CO2-emitting coal fuel power.

It is notable that Germany has just announced that it will close three of its six nuclear power plants, even though German automakers reportedly have warned their government that they will not be able to compete in global markets if their energy costs continue to rise. Maybe, for once, the French will save the Germans from themselves.

The fate of this particular EU proposal remains unknown, but the handwriting is on the wall. The “green” dream of an economy powered exclusively (or even mostly) by wind and solar energy is impossible, not because of a lack of political will but because of the laws of physics. The end of this story has already been written. The question is how much wealth will be destroyed before greenies admit that their dreams have turned into nightmares.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/01/will-europe-abandon-green-energy.php