To achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck proposed a new carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCS) policy in February, allowing captured carbon dioxide to be stored under the sea. More than a decade ago, Germany strongly opposed CCS, but Habeck said the technology was "mature and safe," and politicians began to support it.
Germany has proposed an offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) policy to store carbon offshore. The image shows a schematic diagram of offshore carbon transportation and storage. The carbon will be stored beneath the seabed via pipelines. Image source: Global CCS Institute
Running out of time? Political parties turn to CCS
Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCS) technology has long been a controversial topic in Germany. Critics claim the technology is expensive, produces no concrete results, and serves as an excuse for fossil fuel companies and other major carbon emitters to continue emitting carbon. Following intense debate, a law was passed in 2012 giving states the right to veto the use of CCS.
According to the Associated Press, the Carbon Management Strategy (CMS) announced by Haberk will allow carbon storage in the waters of Germany's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but will not consider land-based storage for the time being.
Green Party member Haberk pointed out that Germany is committed to expanding renewable energy, but there are still hard-to-abate industries such as the cement industry that urgently need CCS technology to reduce carbon emissions.
The Green Party opposed CCS in the 2000s. He explained the policy shift by saying CCS is now a "mature and safe" technology that is being used in the real world, not just a laboratory project.
Denmark launched the Greensand Project in 2023 to build a cross-border carbon storage facility to store carbon dioxide from Denmark and other European countries on the bottom of the North Sea.
German media Clean Energy Wire further pointed out that Germany will limit the use of CCS to the industrial sector and not the energy sector.
"Time is running out," Haberk said. The world is working towards keeping global warming below 1.5°C, and we can no longer wait and see. This is a "pragmatic and responsible" decision. He emphasized that reducing carbon emissions remains the primary priority, and CCS is only a "necessary additional" policy.
The CCS wave is coming, but environmental groups warn it's not conducive to carbon reduction.
Germany's three-party ruling coalition has tentatively agreed to Haberk's strategy, but details have yet to be finalised and opponents still hope to block the policy.
The Clean Energy News Agency reported that the Federation of German Industries (BDI) strongly supported the new policy. The German Environmental Action (Deutsche Umwelthilfe, DUH) criticized the policy as opening the door to the fossil fuel industry and making it more difficult to shift investment toward energy efficiency and green energy. It called on the cabinet and the Bundestag to veto it.
Greenpeace criticized the government for not considering industrial reform and carbon reduction, but only wanting to use expensive and unsustainable super-large carbon dioxide waste storage plants to solve the problem.
Experts at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) see this as a revival of CCS in Germany; the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), a well-known institution in the climate community, calls it an important milestone that will help achieve net zero carbon emissions and even go beyond net zero, moving towards negative carbon technology.
References：
*Reuters (2024/02/26), Germany to allow carbon transport, sub-seabed storage, minister says
*Clean Energy News Agency (February 26, 2024): Germany to support CCS for industry, allow offshore carbon storage with upcoming strategy
*Deutsche Welle (February 26, 2024), Germany to allow carbon capture, underwater storage
*Deutsche Welle (July 30, 2012), Clean coal controversy
*Associated Press (2024/02/26), Germany plans to enable underground storage of carbon dioxide at offshore site
Source: Environmental Information Centre
