German parliament adopts law reform to pave the way for carbon capture and storage

Germany’s parliament has adopted a reform that allows carbon storage under the seabed, enables the buildout of pipelines to transport CO2 and excludes the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) for coal power plants. The government and industry welcomed the decision, while environmental NGOs warned that the reform failed to introduce sufficiently strict guardrails to protect the climate and environment. The council of federal state governments (Bundesrat) has yet to give the final green light to the reform.

The German chapter of environmental group WWF criticised the reform for allowing CCS on gas-fired power plants, which would create the basis “to keep fossil fuels artificially alive”. Emissions from the energy sector could be avoided “and have no place in the seabed”, said WWF’s Karoline Schacht. The organisation welcomed that marine protected areas are excluded as storage sites, but warned that allowing the construction of pipelines for CO₂ transport could still cause “massive disruption” in these zones.

Economy minister Katherina Reiche called the adoption an “important step for the future of Germany as an industry location”. The law would lay the foundation for the development of a CO₂ infrastructure and enable investment in technologies that have long been a reality in other countries. “This is how we combine climate protection with competitiveness,” she said.

Chemical industry association VCI said the parliament decision finally marked the starting signal for CCS and CCU and represented a “pragmatic” approach to climate policy. Now, speed is of the essence, said managing director Wolfgang Große Entrup. “The CO2 pipeline network must be planned, approved and built at turbo speed – and publicly funded.”

The German Gas and Hydrogen Industry, an industry interest group, welcomed that the law adoption would allow CCS on gas-fired electricity plants. This was especially important for industrial firms that operate their own power plants, it said.

The German government paved the way to enable the broad application of carbon capture and storage or utilisation in the country earlier this year. It said technologies to capture, transport and permanently store carbon dioxide deep underground are “indispensable” to reach Germany’s targets of climate neutrality by 2045 and net negative emissions after 2050. It also said that CCS is needed to ensure Germany’s competitiveness.

Energy and climate researchers also say CCS will be necessary to a certain extent to reach climate targets. However, critics have argued for years that CCS could be used to extend the lifetime of the fossil fuel industry, thus hurting the climate rather than helping protect it. Capturing CO2 is already permitted in Germany, but current laws make it impossible to start a storage project and severely limit large-scale transport.