Energy in Demand News, June 22-23, 2025

appliances, behaviour/attitudes, biodiversity, buildings, carbon emissions, clean energy, climate change, climate risk, electrification, emissions standards, energy labels, environment, GHG emissions, industry, international co-operation

The European Union is making a big effort to decarbonise and to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. One of the options is to expand the use of nuclear energy. However, the Financial Times writes about how complicated it is to reduce dependence on Russia for nuclear fuel: “The EU has 101 nuclear reactors of which 19 are Soviet “VVER” designs. The bloc relies on Russia for about 20-25 per cent of its natural, converted and enriched uranium. Reactors across the EU often buy in Russian spare parts or require maintenance expertise.” It goes on: “The European Commission ideally would like the European nuclear sector to be free of Russian imports by the 2030s, EU officials have said. But in a document published on Friday it warned that €241bn of investment was needed to build out the domestic nuclear supply chain.” Note that in 2024, the EU paid Russia €22 billion for fuel, of which “only” €700 million was for nuclear fuel.  It would appear that more effort to expand renewable energy and energy efficiency would make more sense.

The Guardian reports that climate misinformation is turning crisis into catastrophe according to a report from the International Panel on the Information Environment (Ipie). “It found climate action was being obstructed and delayed by false and misleading information stemming from fossil fuel companies, rightwing politicians and some nation states.” Furthermore, “Online bots and trolls hugely amplify false narratives, the researchers say, playing a key role in promoting climate lies. The experts also report that political leaders, civil servants and regulatory agencies are increasingly being targeted in order to delay climate action.”

The Financial Times reports that Arcelor-Mittal, “Europe’s biggest steel producer has abandoned plans to convert two German steel plants to green production and warned that it could also close a flagship biofuels plant in Belgium in a blow to Europe’s plans to decarbonise its heavy industry. . . . ArcelorMittal said it would turn down €1.3bn in public subsidies aimed at supporting it in adapting facilities in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt to use hydrogen rather than coal in its steel furnaces.” What next?

In planning travel over the upcoming weeks, here are some useful ideas to help you along:

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947), an English mathematician and philosopher, who created the philosophical school known as process philosophy, which has been applied in a wide variety of disciplines, including ecology, theology, education, physics, biology, economics, and psychology, explains his view on progress: “The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order.”

EiD welcomes your views about this week’s selection of posts on the zero-carbon energy transition:

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