If Europe is serious about reaching climate neutrality by 2050, or sooner, it must prioritise the best available solutions <\/strong>to ditch fossil fuels: energy savings, renewables, electrification, and circularity. <\/span><\/p>\n Betting on costly experiments or overhyped technologies -such as new nuclear plants, oversized hydrogen plans, or uncertain carbon capture and storage projects- risks prolonging fossil fuel dependence, wasting the time we don\u2019t have, and diverting scarce public resources.<\/span><\/p>\n The European Commission\u2019s decision to label nuclear power and fossil gas as \u201csustainable<\/a>\u201d investments under the EU Taxonomy critically undermines its credibility. Nuclear energy comes with severe safety, waste, and economic drawbacks that make it incompatible with a rapid and just energy transition.<\/span><\/p>\n The EEB advocates for an exit from nuclear energy<\/strong> by avoiding new investments and phasing out existing reactors at the end of their technical lifetimes. Nuclear projects take decades to build and absorb vast sums of public money, time and resources that should instead accelerate what is proving to reduce emissions fast and affordably: renewable deployment, energy efficiency, and grid upgrades.<\/p>\n Building on the Paris Agreement-compatible (PAC) scenario, we find<\/a> that Europe can phase out nuclear by 2040, alongside fossil fuels, without compromising climate goals. Nuclear waste poses a long-term environmental and ethical burden for countless generations. Meanwhile, the technology\u2019s contribution to Europe\u2019s energy mix is already small and declining.<\/p>\n EEB is a member of <\/span>Nuclear Transparency Watch<\/span><\/a> and contributes to its activities.<\/span><\/p>\n Hydrogen will play a limited, targeted role<\/strong> in decarbonising sectors that are genuinely hard to electrify – such as certain industrial processes and long-distance shipping. However, the EU\u2019s current hydrogen plans are massively oversized<\/strong> and risk draining financial and renewable energy resources away from faster, cheaper, and more effective solutions. Even so-called \u201cgreen\u201d hydrogen demands vast amounts of renewable electricity, which should first decarbonise the grid and end fossil fuel use.<\/p>\nNuclear Power<\/h4>\n
Hydrogen<\/h4>\n