CCS key to Germany meeting climate neutrality goals - gasworld

CCS key to Germany meeting climate neutrality goals | CCS | gasworld

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) should be developed in Germany otherwise its 2045 climate neutrality target will be “impossible to achieve,” according to Robert Habeck, Federal Economics and Climate Protection Minister.

The Minister set out plans this week for a carbon management strategy and bill which will amend the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Storage Act.

It recommends the application of CCS/CCU, transport and offshore storage (excluding marine protected areas) in Europe’s largest economy, though not onshore, since the permanent storage of CO₂ in the geological subsoil on the mainland is still not possible.

Minister Habeck said, “Today we are making a pragmatic and responsible decision: CCS and CCU should be made possible in Germany. The technology is also important for the competitiveness of our industrial location in Germany. Failure to do so would put us at a competitive disadvantage and cost us dearly.”

He said the move will see it “catching up” with European and “face the responsibility instead of shifting it to others”.

While the focus of efforts is always to prevent emissions from occurring in the first place, the Minister said it is “undisputed” that CCS technology is a necessary addition to climate policy.

Germany is pushing the expansion of renewable energies and driving forward the development of a hydrogen economy, coupled with a gradual phase-out of fossil fuels, greater energy efficiency and creating a circular economy.

Under its power plant strategy, Europe’s premier economy plans to build new gas power plants running on hydrogen (click here).

“There are emissions in industry that are very difficult or impossible to avoid,” he added. “This is particularly true in the production of cement and lime and thermal waste treatment. Here we have to capture and store any remaining CO₂. Only then can we keep these industries in Germany and achieve our climate goals.”

The use of CCS/CCU is also possible for power generation plants using gaseous energy sources or biomass ‘in the sense of a technology-open transition to a climate-neutral electricity system’.

CCS important for ‘technical sinks’

Drawing on many years of research, testing and application of CCS technology, Minister Habeck said the technology is safe and risks, like those in mining and chemicals, can be managed.

He said, “In order to restore a sustainable balance in the atmosphere, we also need negative emissions. One important option is to strengthen natural CO₂ sinks such as soils and moors. But that alone will not be enough, despite all the efforts.

“We also have to use technology and create so-called technical sinks. We also need a CCS infrastructure for this. My company is therefore also working hard on a strategy for negative emissions. It becomes a kind of sister strategy to the carbon management strategy.”

An Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states CCS/CCU is a necessary climate protection technology in emission-intensive sectors, where emissions that are difficult to avoid, in order not to exceed a temperature increase of 1.5 degrees.

Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland, Italy, France, Croatia, Poland, Romania and the UK are already operating or planning geological storage facilities, while the US is promoting CCS under the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has presented a draft bill for the amendment to the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act (KSpG), which is primarily intended to create a clear legal framework for the development of a CO₂ pipeline infrastructure. Access to CO₂ pipelines is excluded for emissions from coal-fired power generation.