UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
G7 Summit deals to isolate Russia from nuclear supply chains while ramping up coal phase out and renewables targets
19/4/2023
The UK, US, Canada, Japan and France reached a new agreement at the Nuclear Energy Forum during the G7 Energy Minister’s meeting last week, which will cut off another means for President Putin to fund his war on Ukraine. New fossil fuel phase out and renewable targets were also announced at the G7 Summit in Sapporo, Japan.
By leveraging the respective resources and capabilities of the civil nuclear power sectors in the UK, US, Canada, Japan and France, the new nuclear agreement aims to ensure the secure supply of uranium fuel through the development of shared supply chains that isolate Russia.
Nuclear fuel is needed to operate nuclear power stations that currently provide around 15% of the UK’s electricity supply. The UK government aims to increase this to 25% by 2050.
Speaking at the G7 Summit, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Grant Shapps explained that the agreement, alongside investment in cleaner, cheaper and more secure renewable energy sources, would ‘be a key part of making the UK energy independent’.
He noted that the UK is already taking proactive steps in the nuclear arena, including through the Nuclear Fuel Fund which launched in January 2023. The fund will provide up to £75mn to ensure the UK has the fuel production capabilities needed to support a nuclear renaissance, backing the government’s ambition to secure up to 24 GW of nuclear power by 2050.
New fossil fuel phase out and renewable targets
At the Summit, the G7 nations also agreed to accelerating the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels – with a particular focus on coal, by agreeing to work together to stop new unabated coal plants being constructed – ‘a G7 first’, stated the UK government.
However, the Energy Ministers reportedly stopped short of endorsing a 2030 deadline for phasing out coal that Canada and other nations had pushed for, leaving the door open for continued investment in gas to ‘help address potential energy shortfalls’.
New collective targets for the use of offshore wind and solar energy were also announced, with G7 nations to increase offshore wind capacity by 150 GW and solar PV to 1,000 GW by 2030. The UK will account for a quarter of the offshore wind target. In addition, the UK is helping drive forward progress in the phasing out of petrol and diesel cars in the G7, with the group committing to 50% zero emission vehicle sales in cars and vans by 2050. The UK is already ahead of this, having committed to phase out sales of new diesel and petrol cars by 2030, and all major manufacturers having committed to selling 100% zero emission cars by 2035.
