In addition to avoiding CO2, storing the climate-damaging gas is an approach to protecting the environment. In Germany, the latter is not legally possible. Until now. Economics Minister Habeck announces that he intends to use the technology in the future. Also under the seabed.
In the fight against climate change, the federal government is taking another step towards the controversial underground CO2 storage. Economics Minister Robert Habeck announced that CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) technology should also be used in Germany. In 2023 he wants to introduce a corresponding law. The federal cabinet had previously approved its recommendations for reforming the existing law.
The government is examining the “enabling of CO2 storage in Germany, including under the seabed,” according to the review report on the law, which is available to Reuters. The government is thus opening up the option for a CO2 repository in northern Germany. So far, transporting the greenhouse gas to Norway or the Netherlands has been discussed.
The report emphasizes the necessity of CCS technology for industry in order to achieve complete greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045: “While the previous target of 80 to 95 percent emission reductions also permitted development paths without the use of CCS, the requirement for CCS with the goal of net-zero emissions in the current studies common consensus.”
CCS technology is highly controversial in Germany. A good ten years ago, the then black-yellow coalition tried to make storage in Germany possible. However, numerous citizens’ initiatives resisted the CCS concept because they feared that the toxic gas would escape to the earth’s surface in high concentrations. Resistance was particularly strong in Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, where underground cavities are available in depleted natural gas deposits. It was taboo, especially for Greens supporters, and Habeck also protested at the time. Ultimately, the law only allowed the technology to a very limited extent for test purposes. And even this could be banned by the respective federal states in the approval process. In the meantime, the deadline for registering projects has also expired, meaning that CCS is currently banned in practice.
The evaluation report on the law now approved by the cabinet summarizes the state of the art that is already widespread in many countries. Above all, the Netherlands and Norway want to do business with the storage of CO2 in their former natural gas deposits. Since the CO2 also combines with the rock in certain constellations in the long term, escaping into the environment and atmosphere is practically impossible.
The report by the economics department also contains a number of recommendations as to how CO2 transport and the construction of industrial capture systems could be made possible in a reformed law. The majority of climate science considers CCS to be unavoidable, for example in order to capture greenhouse gases in developing countries, for example from coal-fired power plants. In Germany, the technology should only be used for basic industries such as steel, chemicals or cement. In industrial processes, a complete replacement with climate-friendly hydrogen, for example, is impossible.
