Quick launch of carbon removal is key for Germany's net-zero target - researchers

A fast buildout of Germany’s carbon removal infrastructure is necessary for the country to achieve its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, a team of more than 100 researchers coordinated by the Ludwig Maximilian University Munich (LMU) has found. A range of land-based carbon dioxide removal (CDR) methods are available to help the country bring down net emissions, but they will require regulatory and structural changes to fully contribute to the goal, the researchers of the CDRterra project said.  

“Without ambitious emissions reductions and CO₂ removal, we will miss our climate targets,” said LMU researcher Julia Pongratz. “To ramp up CDR, we need clear rules, the build-out of new methods, the protection of natural sinks – and dialogue with society,” she argued.

Even under the most optimistic emissions reduction scenarios, there would likely be residual emissions of between 60 and 130 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2045, said the researchers.

Modelling an ambitious carbon removal scenario for the target year, the researchers said that up to 80 million tonnes could be removed through a combination of different CDR methods. Germany today only removes a small fraction of this amount, they added.

Methods include established ones by the agriculture and forestry sector, such as reforestation or “carbon farming”. Afforestation plays a major role in this regard, according to the researchers, but legal hurdles to redesignating land area and a general target conflict regarding land use are complicating a fast growth in tree cover. A “fundamental” reform of land use and agriculture therefore is a prerequisite for making the best possible use of the country’s CDR potential.

Other less established procedures that could potentially play an important role include solar-powered artificial photosynthesis or novel carbon-based building materials. However, these will need time to be further developed and scaled, they added.

Planning and implementing a viable carbon removal infrastructure is a task that involves every part of society, said LMU researcher Felix Havermann. “Farmers, industry, municipalities, and citizens have to take part from the onset – this is the only way to create the acceptance and trust that are needed for implementation.”

Germany continues to bet on ambitious emissions reduction as the key instrument for achieving climate targets. However, there will be some residual emissions, for example from industry and agriculture. Germany's Climate Action Law says the country aims for net-negative emissions after 2050, but does not set a specific target. The law obliges the government to develop a long-term strategy for negative emissions to help deal with residual emissions which are difficult or impossible to avoid. Following the collapse of the previous coalition, an earlier draft was never finalised.

A spokesperson from the environment ministry told CLEW that the department is continuing work on the strategy. “To achieve negative emissions, we must develop and scale relevant methods and technologies in time so that they can be brought to market maturity,” he said. The strategy would evaluate these and examine potentials and risks based on the latest science. The government would also define targets for technical carbon sinks for 2035, 2040 and 2045, which would complement natural sinks such as forests or peatland.

It would also set a target for net-negative greenhouse gas emissions in Germany by 2060, the spokesperson added.