Germany should limit CO2 capture to 'unavoidable' emissions, government advisers say

Germany should direct its planned reform to enable the use of technologies for capturing and storing CO2 emissions (so-called Carbon Capture and Storage - CCS) solely at cases where emissions are unavoidable. This was stated by the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU), which objects to the fact that the only restriction in the draft legislation applies to coal-fired power plants.

Germany’s plans to amend the legal framework to allow the use of CCS technologies in certain CO2-intensive sectors that are difficult to decarbonise with currently available technologies and fuels were announced by Economy Minister Robert Habeck in February this year. According to Habeck, the plans should allow, among other things, the transport of CO2 and its storage beneath the seabed.

The government’s environmental advisers, however, have criticised the proposed legislative changes, which allow the widespread use of CCS, with the exception of its use at coal-fired power plants.

"The main goal should still be to avoid emissions, but the current plans reduce the pressure to decarbonise the energy sector and industry," the SRU said.

According to researchers, the use of CCS technologies is associated with negative environmental impacts as well as risks to residents that are currently difficult to assess.

The international outlet Clean Energy Wire noted that the planned carbon management strategy envisages using CCS technologies primarily for unavoidable emissions, such as those from cement production, but also allows their use for "hard-to-abate emissions".

In Germany, CCS is restricted by a law passed in 2012 that gave the federal states the right to veto its use. But because Germany, Europe’s largest CO2 emitter, is unlikely to meet its target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2045, Berlin has gradually changed its position on CCS.