US Government's 2050 Carbon Neutrality Executive Order: "Nuclear Power Also Zero-Emission Energy"

U.S. President Joe Biden is explaining the infrastructure bill he is promoting at an event held on the 8th (local time) in Kansas City, Missouri. On the same day, President Biden signed an executive order aiming for federal agencies to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
[Photo by AP]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] On the 8th (local time), U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order for the federal government agencies to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The executive order included nuclear power as "Carbon pollution-free electricity." This contrasts with the domestic government's plan to significantly reduce the share of nuclear power while establishing the Carbon Neutrality 2050 plan.

According to the detailed contents of the executive order posted on the White House website, the U.S. federal government defined carbon pollution-free electricity in Section 603 of the order. The federal government stated, "Carbon pollution-free electricity means electric energy generated from power sources with zero carbon emissions," and added, "It includes offshore energy, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, nuclear power, renewable hydrogen, and electricity generated from fossil fuels that meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for carbon dioxide capture and storage."

The U.S. government recognized not only nuclear power but also fossil fuels supported by the controversial carbon dioxide capture and storage technology as carbon pollution-free power sources. This is interpreted as broadly recognizing carbon pollution-free electricity, anticipating that achieving the 2050 carbon neutrality goal with only existing new and renewable energy sources would be difficult.

In the international community, as the cost burden of existing fossil fuels increases during the transition to eco-friendly energy to achieve carbon neutrality goals, there are calls to increase the use of affordable nuclear power.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, also stated on his Twitter on the same day, "Nuclear power plants should not be shut down unless affected by extreme natural disasters."

The British economic weekly The Economist recently predicted in its "2022 Global Outlook" article that as fossil fuel prices surge, more countries will reconsider their energy policies and nuclear power will regain attention. In fact, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a nationwide TV address on the 9th of last month that he would promote the construction of new nuclear reactors to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. President Macron had initially stated he would reduce the share of nuclear power when he took office.