If the taxonomy is to indicate Europe's degree of maturity with respect to the green transition, the level has become conflictual. It argues about as energy sources they will have to enjoy the recognition of good investment to get out of the grip of CO2. The provision that evaluates the environmental sustainability indices in economic activities is close to the finish line. Environmentalists are once again attacking the EU because it thinks it is a good investment including gas and nuclear power, but the vice president of the EU Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, cannot overlook the fact that there are favorable countries.
For the energy mix useful for ferrying Europe towards the renewables of the future “we have also need stable sources“, said the number two of the community executive. Consequently, the Commission will adopt a taxonomy that will almost certainly not exclude gas and nuclear power, two sources of which there is high distrust, even in the medium term.
The Italian Minister of Ecological Transition also defends himself from the criticisms, Roberto Cingolani, much appreciated in Europe for its gradualist positions. Beyond the contingency on gas prices and rising bills, Cingolani recalls that he did not say he wanted to build new plants in Italy: "I've never said it for two reasons - he explained - The first is that today there is no can do; there are no modular reactors and fusion reactors, and I wouldn't do a first or second generation reactor. Second reason, there are the referendums that banned technologies from thirty and ten years ago”.
Nuclear energy remains taboo for environmentalists, despite the scientific and industrial world debating the fourth generation of non-polluting energy. There is obviously also a problem of Costs and the utility of the expense. But if “there are new technologies, and we were told that they are good, might it be worth asking ourselves a few questions?” asked Cingolani.
Greenpeace has returned to protest in Brussels. "Nuclear and gas are not green - he says in a note - Gas is responsible for more CO2 emissions than coal, while after seventy years the nuclear industry still does not have a solution for the ever-growing mountain of radioactive waste". According to environmentalists, therefore, the European goals for 2030 they should be centered on renewables, which however – currently – would not be enough to satisfy the strong demand for energy in the phase of economic recovery. This is why the point on the taxonomy is becoming more and more political.
There are countries like the France, who will soon assume the Presidency of the EU, historically in favor of the atom, and others where the issue of energy is examined more extensively (such as Germany, Holland and Austria, where procurement choices are much more integrated). But the doubts remain. The plants that produce electricity with gas will they all close? And why not accept that gas will help replace coal in the medium term? Italy is among the countries that wants to switch from fossil fuels to renewables without trauma. To avoid them, we must not close ourselves off, but study, form alliances - the government reiterated - invest in research. There is no time to decide.
