German Greens call for European framework on CCS for hard-to-abate emissions
ARD / Der Spiegel
The German Green Party has finalised its manifesto for the 2024 EU elections, including a promise for rules to allow capturing and storing carbon emissions (CCS) from certain industrial processes, reports public broadcaster ARD. Deviating from a decades-long party stance, the Greens are now starting to embrace CCS as a means to deal with hard-to-abate greenhouse gas emissions in “a select few sectors,” such as cement production, according to the ARD report. “In these areas, we want to utilise technological possibilities and capture the CO2 directly during production, store it in a safe and stable form and, if necessary, use it in closed carbon cycles,” the programme reads, according to ARD. A standardised Europe-wide regulatory framework should be created for this and an infrastructure with shared CO2 storage facilities should be established, the party says.
Years of protest against industry plans to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) as a lifeline for coal power made the technology a no-go issue for German politicians, especially from the Green Party. Yet Germany’s goal of climate neutrality by 2045 reopened debate on the issue of combatting CO2 emissions which are difficult to avoid, for example in cement production. Parties, including the Greens, are realigning their official stance, and the government coalition is set to decide a carbon management strategy in 2023 to define guidelines for dealing with CCS.
Der Spiegel reported that the Greens also are calling for binding emission reductions targets for the EU for 2035 and 2040 and a climate-neutral electricity supply by 2035.
