21 November 2023
On the 21st of November, during the plenary session in Strasbourg, the MEPs voted in favour of the inclusion of a broader list of technologies in the legislative act, among them also nuclear fission and fusion technologies, sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and specific industrial technologies.
The Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA), which sets a target for Europe to produce 40% of net-zero technologies based on National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and to capture 25% of the global market value for these technologies, now includes 17 technologies – rather than the 10 originally foreseen – deemed essential to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
The 17 technologies targeted by the Parliament text comprise renewable energy (wind and solar), nuclear energy (fission, fusion, fuel cycle), energy storage; capture, transport, injection, storage and utilisation of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide; hydrogen (transport, electrolysers, fuel cells, propulsion and production and refuelling infrastructure), alternative fuels, bio-methane, electric vehicle recharging, heat pumps, energy efficiency, thermal energy distribution and power grids, thermonuclear fusion, electrification and high-efficiency industrial processes for energy- and carbon-intensive industries, biomaterial production and recycling.
Next steps: the first negotiations between the Parliament, the Commission and the Council are scheduled for December 2023.