Europe: members of the Bloc sound ways to end dependency from russian gas

 The measures are planned to be effective by the end of the year, WELT:

The pressure on the EU states to impose an embargo on Russian energy supplies is increasing. The heads of state and government meeting in Brussels on Thursday will also argue about this issue again. It is very unlikely that they will agree on a gas embargo this week. But the pressure will remain.

The European Commission, the EU's powerful administration, is therefore already preparing for a possible supply freeze for oil and gas from Russia – even in the event that Russia stops supplies of its own accord.

France: France Braces For Blackouts As Gas Stockpiles Dwindle

Oilprice.com: 

The Brits aren't the only European nation to find itself on the verge of a full-blown energy crisis. On Thursday, French natural gas pipeline operator GRTgaz warned that French gas stockpiles are much lower at this point in the year than they have been during years past - and as a result, they run the risk of potentially being depleted before the winter is up, a disaster that could make last year's deep freeze in Texas look tame if a sudden cold snap sends demand soaring.

According to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, France’s stockpiles were about 34% full as of Feb. 1, which is well below the five-year average of 42%. Inventories are now at the lowest seasonal level since 2018, when a brutal winter cold snap nicknamed "the Beast from the East" left French reserves standing at just 3% when the heating season was over.

"We’ll probably be close to zero toward the end of March, and we remain vigilant on that topic," GRTgaz chief Thierry Trouve said in a presentation in Paris Thursday.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/France-Braces-For-Blackouts-As-Gas-Stockpiles-Dwindle.html

Nuclear fusion: JET scientists report record energy production

 Scientists of the Joint European Torus (JET), Europe's largest fusion reactor, claim to have produced more than twice the energy than the last record measurement in 1997 in a new experiment (Le Monde):

Scientists working at a European experimental facility in the UK claimed Wednesday (February 9th) that they have produced more energy from nuclear fusion than ever before. An alternative to the nuclear fission used in current power plants, nuclear fusion aims to reproduce what happens in the heart of the Sun and is considered by its supporters to be the energy of tomorrow, in particular because it produces little waste. – and much less radioactive than those from a conventional reactor – and no greenhouse gases.

A team from the Joint European Torus (JET), the world's largest fusion reactor, located near Oxford, has succeeded in generating 59 megajoules of energy from this process, more than doubling the previous record set in 1997, according to the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). The results "are the clearest demonstration on a global scale of the potential of fusion to provide sustainable energy," the same source said in a statement.

Germany: is the reactor shutdown a terrible and irreversible mistake?

 A quite interesting insight in the last day of Grohnde Nuclear Power Plant by scientist Anna Veronika Wendland and her criticism of german climate lobby in Salonkolumnisten:

On December 31st, three German nuclear power plants will be forced to shut down, although it is already recognized that the nuclear phase-out was a mistake. Why was it still not possible to save the systems? An insight into what is happening on site - and a search for the causes and the responsible actors.

The Grohnde nuclear power plant goes offline on New Year's Eve. I researched in this nuclear power plant for six years as a long-term observer and wrote parts of my habilitation thesis. And also a number of pieces for the salon columnists. Now I am accompanying the last week in power operation and the transition to post-operation and dismantling.

The facility will be shut down as if one of the more than thirty overhauls that the team had behind them. From 6 p.m. they gradually retract the control rods and go down at 10 megawatts per minute. At 25 percent reactor output, the live steam diversion station opens, and the excess steam that the turbine no longer needs is then fed directly into the condenser. Shortly before midnight we are so low that the reverse power protection triggers the turbine shutdown. The quick-closing valves are closed, the steam flow stops, the generator switch opens and disconnects the system from the mains. From this point in time, our 70 megawatts of own consumption will no longer be produced by us, and Grohnde has met the deadline stipulated in the Atomic Energy Act: shutdown “by December 31 at the latest. 2021 "

EU: EU commission wants to classify nuclear and gas as climate friendly energies

 Right before the release of the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities, also called green taxonomy in january, information got out that the EU commission - pressured by France and Poland - wants to rate nuclear and natural gas as climate friendly energies. Politicians of the Green party are upsed, writes WELT:

The EU Commission wants to classify energy generation from natural gas and nuclear plants as climate-friendly. According to a draft ordinance by the Brussels authority, permits issued for new nuclear power plants by 2045 should come under the so-called taxonomy ordinance and construction should be subsidized accordingly. For new gas infrastructure, this should apply under certain conditions until 2030.

The taxonomy is a kind of classification of sustainable economic activities and is equivalent to a classification as worthy of funding and a recommendation to investors. The EU Commission had already presented the corresponding legal act in April. At the time, however, the authority left out the delicate question of assessing gas and nuclear energy. We should await further expert reports and evaluations.

France: french government is lagging behind EU climate goals

 As France is taking over the presidency of the Council of the EU on january 1st 2022 its climate performances is scrutinized, writes WELT:

Even in normal times France is decisive for the fortunes of the European Union. From January 1st, the country and President Emmanuel Macron will become even more important. Then France will take over the rotating EU Council Presidency, i.e. political leadership and coordination of the 27 member states.

For six months, Paris will play a central role in coordinating negotiations among the member states, formulating strategies and negotiating compromises. It's an important function; The ability of the Council Presidency to determine whether and how legislative proposals progress at European level is crucial.

A lot is expected of politically weighty countries like France during their Council presidencies - not least because they have large civil servants that are necessary to advance the often complex issues.

Germany: consumers hit by high gas and electricity prices; myth of cheap renewables

 As three nuclear power plants have been shut down on new year's eve consumers face skyrocketing prices for gas and elecricity. Consumers pay the price of the energy change in Germany, writes WELT:

Many consumers eager to shop are impatiently waiting for the bargain day called “Black Friday” in the coming week. According to an old tradition, on the last weekend in November you can buy new electricity guzzlers for the household particularly cheaply. But already this week, a completely different “Black Friday” on the energy market may not leave much of the shopping appetite of many shoppers.

Because energy suppliers who want to change their electricity and gas prices on January 1st must, according to the law, announce this six weeks in advance, that is: on the Friday of the week that ends. The announced price increases are likely to trigger a real energy price shock for many.

EU: conservative lawmakers warn Commission President unfulfillable energy requirements

 As the decision about the "green character" of different energy sources is scrutinized, conservative lawmakers caution European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that some requirements might be unrealizable and thus damage companies and strain consumers, writes WELT:

The argument has been smoldering for months, but Ursula von der Leyen wants to end it soon. The European Commission will shortly decide whether it will classify nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable in the future - and under what conditions.

Before the final spurt in Brussels, MEPs warn that companies and consumers in many European countries could suffer the wrong decision. They fear that excessively strict requirements from Brussels could ensure that the energy supply is at risk, that energy prices remain high in the long term - and that the energy transition could fail on top of that.

That is the tenor of a letter that 22 MPs from eleven countries sent to von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on Friday. “We remain convinced that Europe must make the transition to climate neutrality realistic, responsible and appropriate; especially when it comes to the specific needs of small and medium-sized companies, ”says the letter initiated by CDU member Markus Pieper. The unpublished letter is available to WELT.

Germany: chancellor Scholz on Nord Stream 2 and nuclear power

 Newly appointed chancellor Olaf Scholz refused in a speech to interconnect the question of the operating licence of contentious pipeline Nord Stream 2 and the tense situation in Ukraine. Nord Stream 2 is a purely commercial project, he said. He disagreed with french President Macron about the future of nuclear. He pointed out that Germany has other energetical models. 

Source WELT:

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has spoken out against combining the operating license for the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis. “With regard to Nord Stream 2, it is a private-sector project,” he said on Friday night after the EU summit in Brussels.

For commissioning, compliance with European law has to be clarified in one aspect. "An authority in Germany decides on this quite apolitically," emphasized the SPD politician. This is "a different question" than the current efforts to prevent a violation of the Ukrainian borders.

The Baltic Sea pipeline from Russia to Germany was completed weeks ago. The Federal Network Agency decides on the operating permit. The pipeline has long been criticized by the US, but also by some EU countries. They fear that they are too dependent on Russia for energy supplies.

At its summit, the EU unanimously threatened Russia with retaliation in the event of an attack on Ukraine. In a joint statement by the heads of state and government, Russia urgently needs to defuse the tensions caused by the deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine and aggressive rhetoric. Any further military aggression will have "massive consequences and high costs".

France: government projects construction of new EPR nuclear reactors

 After the report of french  transmission system operator Réseau de transport d'électricité (RTE) on October 25th 2021 with different scenarios on the energy consumption and the energy mix in France, president Emmanuel Macron has made the decision to build new nuclear reactors to safeguard the energetical independence of France and to reach the climate goals that the frenche government has committed itself to, writes frenche newspaper Le Monde:

The main presidential candidates had already spoken out for or against the construction of new reactors. Five months before the election, Emmanuel Macron - who has not yet declared himself - has in turn formalized his position in favor of relaunching the nuclear program. The head of state announced Tuesday, November 9, his decision to "relaunch the construction of reactors in our country" while continuing to "develop renewable energies". The project aims to "guarantee the energy independence of France (...), the electricity supply of our country and achieve our objectives, in particular carbon neutrality in 2050", he argued on the occasion. a televised address on the general situation of the country.

The announcement remains vague, however: no date has been given for the start of work, and the number of reactors envisaged has not been specified. Since 2019, however, the government has been considering a specific hypothesis: the construction of six new third generation reactors of very high power, known as “EPR 2”. The energy company EDF submitted a report to this effect in May at the request of the State, its main shareholder.

The launch of a new nuclear program would be a first for France "in decades", stressed Emmanuel Macron. Most of today's reactors were built at high speed, from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. The country now has fifty-six reactors, which already guarantee low-carbon electricity production. But this park is aging, with many facilities approaching or reaching the age of 40. Within twenty years, a majority of them should have ceased to function for reasons of obsolescence and safety.

EU: France and Germany strike deal on future usage of nuclear in Europe

 In an emergency summit of EU- energy secretaries, which was convened to work out responses to the high energy prices the participants agreed that nuclear will still be part of the european energy mix. The french government got its way against detractors of nuclear energy in other goverment of the Bloc writes WELT:

The subject was not on the agenda, but the advocates of nuclear power did not allow themselves to be dissuaded. At the emergency summit of the EU energy ministers, a show event at which the high energy prices should be publicized, the camp of the pro-nuclear countries spoke up anyway.

"Many delegations" have demanded that Brussels take a quick position on nuclear power, said the Slovenian Minister of Infrastructure Jernej Vrtovec on Tuesday afternoon after the meeting.

France: transmission system operator publishes study on energy sources by 2050

 French transmission system operator Réseau de transport d'électricité (RTE) has published a strategy with different scenarios on energy consumption in France and the required energy sources for the coming decades until 2050, writes Le Monde:

It is an understatement to say that this work was expected, and that it will be commented on. The national manager of the Electricity Transmission Network (RTE) published on Monday, October 25, the main findings of a vast study aimed at defining the future of the French electricity system. Launched in 2019 at the request of the government, this forward-looking exercise entitled "Energy Futures 2050" sets out six scenarios that are supposed to make it possible to achieve carbon neutrality within thirty years, and therefore to fight against climate change.

Germany: return to nuclear could reduce energy dependency from Russia

This is the assertion that french scholar Thierry Bros develops in a conversation with german newspaper BILD: 

“Putin is the only one who could prevent blackouts in Europe. That is a position of power. "

This simple but accurate statement by energy expert Professor Thierry Bros (54) from the University of Institut d’études politiques de Parisciences (Sciences Po) in the “Wall Street Journal” shows the whole misery of German energy policy! Whether for heating, power supply or gasoline - Germany is dependent on the Kremlin, because the strongest energy suppliers, the state-owned companies Gazprom and Rosneft, are at least indirectly controlled by Russia's head of state.

But how can Germany end the misery it has created itself?

BILD spoke to energy expert Thierry Bros about Germany's dependence on Russian gas and the most obvious way to rise from Putin's shadow - nuclear power, which is so frowned upon in this country, but which dominates in France.

BILD: Does Germany risk power outages if Berlin doesn't play by Putin's rules?

Thierry Bros: “Definitely! As a Frenchman, I would say that Germany is relying on a dangerous free ticket to the EU solidarity mechanism and, in the event of a large-scale power failure, will ask its neighbors to shut down their industries in order to provide emergency power for German households. "

BILD: Does Germany risk power outages if Berlin doesn't play by Putin's rules?

Thierry Bros: “Definitely! As a Frenchman, I would say that Germany is relying on a dangerous free ticket to the EU solidarity mechanism and, in the event of a large-scale power failure, will ask its neighbors to shut down their industries in order to provide emergency power for German households. "

How do we escape this addiction?

Bros: “The decommissioning of German nuclear power plants in 2011 led to more coal being burned from 2011 to 2014. If you shut down the last six plants now, more Russian gas would have to be burned, which is also crazy for the climate. Since there is no way to switch from nuclear power plants to renewable energies overnight, both the climate and the citizens would thank the next federal government if Germany postpones its nuclear power plant closings and reopens decommissioned safe nuclear power plants. "

Could that also reduce Putin's influence in Germany?

Bros: "Of course! The more energy is offered on the German market, the greater the competition. This leads to lower prices for German consumers and curtails Putin's power over German politics. "

Nuclear waste: France and Germany find agreement on taking back containers

 Source: WELT

Germany has agreed with France on a new way to take back castors containing highly radioactive nuclear waste. According to a joint information paper from the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federal Environment Ministry, three to five containers with highly radioactive nuclear waste are to be returned from La Hague, France, to the Philippsburg interim storage facility in Baden-Württemberg by 2024. This would complete the return of all nuclear waste that Germany has to take back from France. According to the ministries, the agreement should be decided in plenary this Thursday.

The original plan provided for the return of 157 containers with medium-level radioactive material from the French plant in La Hague. Five castor casks with medium-level radioactive waste were originally intended to be returned to the Philippsburg interim storage facility and 152 casks with medium-level metal residues from refurbished fuel assemblies to the Ahaus interim storage facility in North Rhine-Westphalia.

A plea for nuclear in Germany

German computer scientist and physicist Rainer Klute makes a case for the comeback of nuclear in an op-ed piece in german weekly paper "Die Zeit". He emphasises the use of nuclear waste for the operation of fast reactors.

"Deutschland braucht neue Atomkraftwerke.

Atomkraft? In Deutschland? Ist dieses Thema nicht spätestens mit dem Ausstiegsbeschluss von 2011 endgültig erledigt? Warum sollte sich das Land wieder Diskussionen über Kernenergie antun? Ganz einfach: Weil wir mit der CO₂-Bepreisung allein das Klima nicht retten werden. Und: Weil Physiker und Ingenieure in den vergangenen Jahren, unbemerkt von einer atomhysterischen Öffentlichkeit, gewaltige Fortschritte gemacht haben.

Inzwischen gibt es moderne Reaktoren, die Energie aus bereits angefallenem "Atommüll" gewinnen können. Allein aus den gebrauchten Brennelementen in den verschiedenen Zwischenlagern könnte Deutschland 250 Jahre lang komplett mit Strom versorgt werden. Die Reaktoren der sogenannten Generation IV würden damit nicht nur die Endlagerfrage lösen, sie würden auch die Menge des nutzbaren Urans um das 50- bis 80-Fache strecken, sodass es für Zehntausende Jahre Stromerzeugung reichen würde – und das alles klimafreundlich und emissionsfrei."

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.zeit.de/2019/41/kernkraftwerke-atomkraft-energiewende-atommuell/komplettansicht 

The dirty drawbacks of supposedly "clean" renewable energy

Interesting angle by Jason Hickel in Foreign Policy: 

"The phrase “clean energy” normally conjures up happy, innocent images of warm sunshine and fresh wind. But while sunshine and wind is obviously clean, the infrastructure we need to capture it is not. Far from it. The transition to renewables is going to require a dramatic increase in the extraction of metals and rare-earth minerals, with real ecological and social costs."

 (...)

"In 2017, the World Bank released a little-noticed report that offered the first comprehensive look at this question. It models the increase in material extraction that would be required to build enough solar and wind utilities to produce an annual output of about 7 terawatts of electricity by 2050. That’s enough to power roughly half of the global economy. By doubling the World Bank figures, we can estimate what it will take to get all the way to zero emissions—and the results are staggering: 34 million metric tons of copper, 40 million tons of lead, 50 million tons of zinc, 162 million tons of aluminum, and no less than 4.8 billion tons of iron."

(...)

"The problem here is not that we’re going to run out of key minerals—although that may indeed become a concern. The real issue is that this will exacerbate an already existing crisis of overextraction. Mining has become one of the biggest single drivers of deforestation, ecosystem collapse, and biodiversity loss around the world. Ecologists estimate that even at present rates of global material use, we are overshooting sustainable levels by 82 percent."

You can read the rest of this interesting piece via the below link:

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/09/06/the-path-to-clean-energy-will-be-very-dirty-climate-change-renewables/ 

Shellenberger: nuclear is safest energy power

Another interesting article, however here and there a bit polemical, about the safety of nuclear power:

"What about Three Mile Island? After the accident in 1979, Time Magazine ran a cover story that superimposed a glowing headline, “Nuclear Nightmare,” over an image of the plant. Nightmare? More like a dream. What other major industrial technology can suffer a catastrophic failure and not kill anyone?

Remember when the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig caught on fire and killed 11 people? Four months later, a Pacific Gas & Electric natural gas pipeline exploded just south of San Francisco and killed eight people sleeping in their beds. And that was just one year, 2010.

The worst energy accident of all time was the 1975 collapse of the Banqiao hydroelectric dam in China. It collapsed and killed between 170,000 and 230,000 people.

Nuclear’s worst accidents show that the technology has always been safe for the same, inherent reason that it has always had such a small environmental impact: the high energy density of its fuel."

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/03/11/it-sounds-crazy-but-fukushima-chernobyl-and-three-mile-island-show-why-nuclear-is-inherently-safe/#4580f4781688 

The "non-problem" of nuclear waste

A quite interesting take by Michael Shellenberger on "irrational fears" concerning nuclear waste and nuclear plants as the "backbone to our future clean energy system".

"Nuclear waste has never been a real problem. In fact, it’s the best solution to the environmental impacts from energy production.

Consider:

• Every year, the lives of seven million people are cut short by waste products in the form of air pollution from burning biomass and fossil fuels;
  

• No nation in the world has a serious plan to prevent toxic solar panel and wind turbine waste from entering the global electronic waste stream;
  

• No way of making electricity other than nuclear power safely manages and pays for any its waste.
  

In other words, nuclear power’s waste by-products aren‘t a mark against the technology, they are its key selling point."

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/06/19/stop-letting-your-ridiculous-fears-of-nuclear-waste-kill-the-planet/#3c20dace562e 

Tax on fuel elements is unconstitutional: Federal Constitutional Court

German federal constitutional court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) ruled in june 2017 that the tax on fuel elements (Brennelementesteuer) is unconstitutional. It is designed as a consumption tax, howeve german government didn't have the legal competence to enact a law is this matter.
Energy corporations can expect a refund of around 8 billion EUR of payed taxes.

https://www.welt.de/wirtschaft/article165312360/Die-Verfassungsrichter-haben-die-Bundesregierung-kalt-erwischt.html