On 26 February, Robert Habeck, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, presented the main features of a carbon management strategy and a draft bill to amend the law on carbon dioxide storage. The aim is to enable the technologies for the capture, utilisation and storage of CO2 (CCS/CCU), their transport and offshore storage in Germany, with the exception of marine protected areas. This was announced in a press release from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.
The strategic focus for the use of CCS is on emissions that are difficult or impossible to avoid. CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) stands for the capture and storage of CO2, CCU (Carbon Capture and Utilisation) for the capture and use of CO2. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) has submitted the key points and the draft bill to the departmental coordination process. Once the departmental consultation process has been completed, the bill will be consulted with the federal states and associations and then referred to the cabinet.
Enabling Carbon Capture Storage & Usage
Federal Minister Habeck commented: “We are taking a pragmatic and responsible decision today: CCS and CCU should be made possible in Germany. Otherwise it will be impossible to achieve the climate targets. The technology is also important for the competitiveness of Germany as an industrial centre. Not doing so would put us at a competitive disadvantage and cost us dearly. (...) We also want to authorise offshore storage, but we are excluding marine protected areas. By allowing it, we are catching up with our European neighbours such as Norway and many other countries. In this way, we are facing up to our responsibility instead of shifting it onto others.”
In Europe, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland, Italy, France, Croatia, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom are already operating or planning geological storage facilities. The USA is promoting CCS/CCU technologies with the Inflation Reduction Act. The European Commission is also promoting the Europe-wide application of the technology via the Net Zero Industry Act, among other things. On 6 February 2024, the Commission also published a communication with an Industrial Carbon Management Strategy.
Avoiding, capturing and storing emissions
For Habeck, it is undisputed that CCS technology is only a necessary addition to climate policy: “Our efforts are always centred on preventing emissions from occurring in the first place. That is why we are pushing the expansion of renewable energies with enormous vigour and success. We are driving forward the development of a hydrogen economy, the gradual phasing out of fossil fuels, greater energy efficiency and a circular economy. All of this is climate protection. But Germany has the goal of being climate-neutral by 2045. That is very ambitious. And there are emissions in industry that are very difficult or impossible to avoid. This is particularly true in the production of cement and lime and in thermal waste treatment. Here we need to capture and store any remaining CO2. Only then can we keep these industries in Germany and achieve our climate targets in industry.”
“We can now look back on many years of researching, trialling and applying CCS technology. With this wealth of experience, we can now say that this technology is safe. Risks - like those in mining or the chemical industry - can be managed. Germany is also not alone in making CCS possible. On the contrary. Many industrialised countries are already making great strides in developing the technology. Germany is playing its part in the European and international concert. With this decision, we are also enabling German companies to build up expertise here and thus secure future value creation with CCS/CCU technology.”
The key points presented show the important course that will then be spelt out and quantified in more detail in the Carbon Management Strategy. They also form the basis for adjustments to the legal framework for CCS/CCU in Germany. To this end, the BMWK has submitted a draft bill for the amendment of the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act (KSpG), which is primarily intended to create a clear legal framework for the development of a CO2 pipeline infrastructure. The draft bill also authorises offshore storage, i.e. in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or the continental shelf, within narrow limits and excluding the injection of carbon dioxide in marine protected areas. Onshore storage is still not permitted.
