Energy, the EU raises the bar again:by 2030 at least 42.5% from renewable sources.Including (partly) nuclear

Agreement reached between Council and Parliament:and France's pressure on atomic energy sees partial success

From Brussels – After fifteen hours of negotiations, the agreement was reached.This morning, the Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement to review (upwards) the objectives of the renewables directive.The main news concerns the 2030 target:by that date the 27 member countries will have to generate at least 42.5% of their electricity from renewable sources.A share that grows not only compared to the current objective of 32% (set in 2018) but also compared to the 40% proposed by the EU executive in 2021, on the occasion of the presentation of the climate package.The agreement reached today seems to have left everyone satisfied:by the president of the parliament Roberta Metsola to the Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, which speaks of an "ambitious compromise".For the new objectives to become effectively binding, the agreement will have to be ratified by the EU Council and Parliament.Even if the most difficult obstacle, namely reaching an agreement on some delicate points of the directive, seems to have now been overcome.

The role of nuclear and biomass

The two most difficult points of the agreement concern biomass and nuclear power.For the former, the agreement reached today in Brussels provides for a tightening of environmental sustainability criteria.In short, biomass energy continues to be considered green, provided that it is produced following the criteria established by Brussels.A different story for nuclear power, which on several occasions has caused European institutions and the governments of member countries to argue.France's push to include this type of energy in the renewables sector ultimately met with partial success.Second Pascal Canfin, president of the Environment Committee of the European Parliament, the new renewables directive recognizes the "specific role of nuclear power, which is neither green nor fossil".Hydrogen produced from atomic energy has been included in the draft directive and can therefore be counted in the industrial decarbonisation plan, but with "strong limits", specified the German MEP Markus Pieper who is leading the inter-institutional negotiations, quoted byHandle.The agreement reached today by the various European institutions on the renewables directive effectively closes the phase of negotiations on the main texts of the Fit for 55, the package of climate measures which aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% (compared to 1990s levels) by 2030.“In 18 months we have created rules unprecedented in the world to give us the means to win the battle for the climate,” Canfin exulted.

What the agreement provides

To make the new European objectives feasible, the Trilogue focuses above all on one path:the acceleration of permits for renewable energy plants.Member States will be able to identify areas of their territory where the bureaucratic and authorization processes can proceed in a simplified manner.Not only that:the installation of new systems will always have a "prevailing public interest".In other words, Brussels tries to limit the legal bases of those groups that oppose new installations of renewables.The agreement reached today in Brussels provides a series of binding criteria for two areas in particular:The buildings and i transport.As regards the former, by 2030 49% of the total energy consumed must come from renewable sources.The transport sector, however, was given a double option:a target of at least a 29% share of renewables in final energy consumption by 2030 or a 14.5% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.This second objective should be achieved both through renewables and with the use of synthetic fuels And biofuels, which will have to contribute at least 5.5% of the total.

Cover photo:ANSA/CESARE ABBATE | Guardia Lombardi wind farm in the province of Avellino