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Publish date: December 20, 2022
News
As the Fit for 55 package nears completion, the carbon capture and storage (CCS) discussion has reignited in the EU as it has become clear that it will be needed to cut emissions fast. As CCS moves from planning to deployment, in part with the aid of the EU Innovation Fund, the need for a policy framework, based on a robust set of guiding principles and safeguards is needed to facilitate the deployment of critical infrastructure for industrial decarbonisation at scale by 2030. Deployment of CCS in Europe should prioritise high-value applications, and hard-to-electrify industrial processes with unavoidable process emissions, while also implementing appropriate guardrails. These are necessary to achieve greater public acceptance.
We welcome the European Commission’s announcement to publish its Communication on the Strategic Vision on CCUS in early 2023. However, the European Commission’s recently published Work Programme for 2023 excludes plans to publish said Communication. We strongly urge the Commission to grant such a Communication priority, in line with the need and urgency expressed by CCS stakeholders at the CCUS Forum and the commitment made by European Commission officials present.
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Throughout the past year, our mission at the Bellona Environmental Transparency Center has focused on two key, but intertwined issues—nuclear and radiation safety as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, and the worldwide influence of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which itself is actively involved in the war and has participated in the occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
At the beginning of the year, reports in the German and Russian press suggested an approximate 70% increase in uranium imports from Russia to Germany in 2024. But does this reflect broader European trends? It does not. Overall, imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia to Western countries actually dropped sharply in 2024. Unlike the situation in Germany, this is already an established trend.
A Lingen, Germany plant could begin producing nuclear fuel in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, which is directly involved in the war in Ukraine and occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.