Government cabinet paves way for carbon capture and storage in Germany
The German government cabinet has approved a draft law that would allow the underground storage of CO2 and enable its large-scale transport through pipelines, and thus pave the way for the application of carbon capture and storage or utilisation (CCS, CCU) across the country.
鈥淭his is an important milestone on the road to decarbonising industry, paving the way for the use of technologies that were previously not possible in Germany,鈥� said economy minister Katherina Reiche at a press conference in Berlin. She added it was a 鈥渄eliberate鈥� choice to define the scope of CCS and CCU broadly. The draft law rules out the use of carbon capture for coal-fired power plants, but exempts no other application, including gas-fired power plants 鈥� which NGOs and Green Party lawmakers have criticised in the past.听
Reiche argued that Germany鈥檚 aim was to reduce CO2 emissions, and it should make use of every technology that makes this possible. Gas will continue to play a role in the coming years in Germany鈥檚 energy system.
鈥淚n this respect, it is right 鈥� if gas-fired power plants remain on the grid to guarantee security of supply 鈥� that they can be equipped with climate protection technology, which in this case is CCS and CCU,鈥澛燫eiche said.听
Tackling hard-to-avoid emissions
Years of protest against industry plans to use CCS as a lifeline for coal power had made the technology a no-go issue for many politicians in Germany. Yet, the target of climate neutrality by 2045 reopened the debate on the issue of combatting CO2 emissions that are difficult to avoid.
The cabinet decision is Germany鈥檚 second attempt at making relevant legal changes. The former government had already adopted a similar draft law in mid-2024, which did not make it through parliament before the collapse of the coalition. The new draft is largely based on the previous version and will now be negotiated by lawmakers.
The economy ministry said the reform is key to providing economic actors, particularly industry, plant manufacturers and infrastructure operators, with a legal basis for their investment decisions. "It is essential that projects get underway as early as possible," said the ministry, adding that it can take between seven and ten years to build transport and storage infrastructure. "However, this infrastructure will be needed by the early 2030s in order to achieve the existing climate targets," it said.听
The carbon storage and transport law reform is part of Germany鈥檚 efforts to tackle especially hard-to-abate emissions from certain industrial processes by capturing and storing or using emitted CO2. This includes cement production or waste incineration, where a complete avoidance of carbon emissions is technically unfeasible or extremely expensive from today鈥檚 perspective. Capturing CO2 is already permitted in Germany, but current laws make it impossible to start a storage project and severely limit large-scale transport.
CCS is quickly gaining massive importance in Germany, at the EU level, and globally as an essential element of climate action. The technology sounds like a convenient solution to the climate crisis: capturing CO2 from the use of fossil fuels in power plants and factories and storing it underground. But many applications remain controversial, because of high costs, immature technology, and the risk of diverting attention from immediate emission cuts.
CCS should not be confused with what is known as carbon dioxide removal (CDR) or 鈥渘egative emissions,鈥� although there is an overlap when it comes to transport and storage. CDR means the long-term removal and storage of CO2 from the atmosphere, and not just capturing emissions as they arise. This can include natural methods like afforestation and reforestation, as well as technological approaches, such as bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and direct air carbon capture and storage (DACCS). Today's proposed storage and transport law reform thus serves both industrial CCS and carbon dioxide removal.
Industry welcomes 鈥渙verriding public interest鈥� clause for CCS infrastructure projects
Industry association BDI the reform proposal would 鈥渇inally create the legal conditions鈥� necessary for CCS in Germany. Officially considering the necessary infrastructure projects of overriding public interest was a 鈥渃rucial precondition鈥� for the ramp-up of the relevant markets, said deputy managing director Holger L枚sch. He called for a speedy process in parliament and also on the government to present an overarching carbon management strategy. The previous government had already worked on this.
The capture and storage of CO2 can play 鈥渁 key role in the transition to climate neutrality鈥� and the speedy buildout of infrastructure is essential, said Achim Dercks, deputy managing director of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK). Dercks welcomed the decision to consider infrastructure projects to be of overriding public interest, but criticised that coal-fired power plants would be excluded.
Wolfgang Gro脽e Entrup, chief executive of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI), said that "the CO2 pipeline network must be approved quickly and receive government funding. Companies now needed legal certainty and confidence in the development of the necessary infrastructure. "Only then will there still be a chance of being able to use these future technologies from the beginning of the 2030s," he said.听
Reform would allow blue hydrogen production in Germany
麻豆无码版 industry association BDEW also .听Chairwoman of the executive board Kerstin Andreae cautioned that CCS application should be restricted largely to hard-to-avoid emissions from the basic raw material production or waste incineration, due to limited CO2 storage capacity and groundwater protection. The latter prompts her to say that "there should be no underground onshore storage of CO2 in Germany" 鈥� contrary to the government's plans to allow federal states to opt in to storage on land.听
Andreae added that the reform would聽create the possibility of producing blue hydrogen in Germany. Blue hydrogen is produced from fossil gas, where the carbon is captured and stored. "This is of central importance for the ramp-up of hydrogen production," she said.听
