European operation creating release of CO2 maybe (8)
I believe the answer is:
emission
'release of co2 maybe' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'european operation' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'european' could be 'e' (abbreviation e.g. EU) and 'e' is found in the answer.
'operation' could be 'mission' (mission is a kind of operation) and 'mission' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'creating' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for emission that I've seen before include "Process of giving out" , "Release" , "A giving out or putting forth" , "Something given out" , "radiation leakage?" .)