February 23, 2009
Members of the Europe Union are shifting their energy positions. Carbon emission policies there are giving nuclear energy added appeal -- even among nations that once eschewed such ideas.
The continent has expressed continued concerns over global warming and volatile oil prices. With the exception of a few nations such as Germany and Austria, most countries there say the nuclear option is appearing increasingly viable and particularly since the EU's most recent carbon reduction proclamation in December.
"We are more and more dependent on oil and gas imported from unstable parts of the world at a high price," says Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, at an earlier European Nuclear Energy Forum. "We have come to a time today where we must do more than talk about nuclear energy. It is really five minutes to midnight."
Nuclear power is an abundant energy source that is considered mostly emissions free. As such, much of Europe is considering plans to construct those plants. Italy, which has not built any nuclear facilities since the Chernobyl accident in 1986, has said it will pursue modern nuclear reactors that are considered more energy efficient and doubly safe. Poland, meanwhile, expects to have two nuclear facilities on line by 2025, all to break its dependence on coal and to cut its air emissions.
Nuclear energy now produces about one third of the electricity consumed in Europe. But the EU's governing members say that it is up to each member state to determine how it will conform to air emissions rules there. Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the United Kingdom have all said they plan to increase their nuclear stakes. And, Germany, which opposes adding any nuclear reactors, will find it difficult to phase out its current fleet.
All told, the European Commission says that the member states must cut carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels -- a target that could be ratcheted higher as more global partners come aboard. They must also generate 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources that may include nuclear power while achieving energy efficiency goals of 20 percent.
The EU says that it will forge ahead despite the global recession. While most nations have said that the agreement is a good start, critics maintain that it allows heavy manufactures and some nations to "pay to pollute" by giving away too many free emissions credits. The Eastern European members, for example, get most of their energy from older coal facilities and those countries will largely get free credits until 2020.
"This is historic," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a conference in Brussels, encouraging the United States to now join Europe's cause.
Competitive Posture
Electric utilities based in Western Europe will have to start paying for their emissions credits beginning in 2013. The money raised will go toward to commercializing clean energy technologies that include carbon capture and sequestration -- moves meant to satisfy those advanced countries that still rely heavily on coal such as Germany. Even still, Germany says that the new rules will damage its competitive posture in the world as it will have to depend more on expensive natural gas in the short run.
Or, Germany could help ease its burden by deciding to keep its current nuclear stock on line for an extended period -- a choice that awaits most of the continent, whose nuclear power plants are all aging. Countries must therefore refurbish those facilities or choose to invest elsewhere. The European Commission says that the trend is toward building more nuclear plants and that the debate must be held with an open mind.
Besides Germany, Eastern Europe has been dubious of the commission's climate change outline. By allowing those nations to avoid fully paying for emissions credits before 2020, however, they have been placated. Those Eastern European countries will also receive roughly $10 billion in economic stimulus monies to help them transition from coal to renewable energy and nuclear power -- money that will help cushion any economic fallout from the shifting energy strategies.
Therein lay the rationale for Poland's recent energy policy modifications. Poland now relies on coal to fuel 95 percent of its power generation. And social pressures to keep coal and electricity prices low have limited the government's ability to price coal so that it can recover its cost. Its government said this month that the first of its two nuclear plants would be built by 2020 while the second one would go up four years later. The two plants would then generate about 20 percent of the nation's power.
"Poland's announcement of future investment in two new nuclear power plants recognizes the need for both a balanced electric supply among a variety of fuel resources and the recognition that future electricity supply must come with reductions in expected emissions of carbon dioxide," says Branko Terzic, energy regulatory expert at Deloitte Services. "Poland's policymakers have come to the same conclusion as policymakers in many other countries that nuclear power can accomplish both of these objectives."
By year's end, global leaders will begin developing the next-generation of climate controls and the ones that move beyond the Kyoto Protocol set to terminate in 2012. The pressure to reduce carbon emissions will only intensify, prompting European leaders and others to try and outdo the current standards. If they are to succeed, many leaders there are convinced that nuclear power will have to stage a comeback.
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