06.01.2022
Our founder Dr Bernd Weber was interviewed by Deutsche Welle in the context of the current push by the EU Commission and the EU Taxonomy Regulation to classify nuclear energy and natural gas as sustainable.
In the live interview, Dr. Bernd Weber made it clear that the Commission's proposal is a compromise solution between countries such as France, which rely on nuclear power to ensure security of supply in the transition phase to a renewable electricity system, and countries such as Germany, which want to use gas for this purpose.
The problem lies primarily in the fact that nuclear power, which is almost CO2-free, is considered sustainable, but brings with it numerous ecological and, additionally, economic hurdles such as a lack of final storage facilities, the risk of serious incidents, a lack of economic efficiency and only limited flexibility. However, it is precisely this flexibility that will be needed to ensure security of supply in the volatile, renewable energy-dominated electricity system of the future.
Gas-fired power plants offer this flexibility. But even though they are more climate-friendly than coal, the use of fossil gas still means a burden on the climate. All new gas-fired power plants that are needed must therefore be built in such a way that they can run exclusively on climate-neutral hydrogen in the medium term. Only then will it be possible to use this flexibility option as a bridging technology for the transition to a climate-neutral future.
Click here to see the video-interview in Deutsche Welle Business.