As of: February 26, 2024, 2:37 p.m
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The technology for storing CO2 on the high seas is safe, says Economics Minister Robert Habeck (archive photo).
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Reducing CO2 emissions is one of the federal government's most important goals.
A controversial procedure should help in the future.
Environmentalists now fear “CO2 landfills” under the sea.
Berlin - In order to achieve climate goals, harmful CO2 in Germany should also be stored in the ground in the future - at least in the North Sea.
The priority is to capture emissions from industries that, as things currently stand, would be difficult or impossible to become climate neutral, said Economics Minister Robert Habeck.
These include, for example, the cement and lime industries.
But the so-called CCS technology should also be permitted for energy production in gas power plants, which environmentalists strongly criticize.
This endangers the exit from fossil fuels, they warn.
What is CCS?
CCS is an English abbreviation for “Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage”.
This refers to the capture and underground storage of climate-damaging carbon dioxide (CO2), which is produced, for example, in industrial plants and when burning oil, gas and coal.
Using energy-intensive processes, the greenhouse gas is captured, liquefied and then pressed into the seabed and stored.
This is intended to prevent CO2 from entering the atmosphere and accelerating global warming.
Habeck emphasized: “This technology is safe.
Risks - like those in mining or the chemical industry - can be managed.” According to the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), CCS has been used on an industrial scale in the North Sea off the coast of Norway since 1996.
The Federal Environment Agency sees the enormous additional energy expenditure as particularly problematic.
As a rule, no health effects for humans are to be expected during normal operation.
However, there are risks from accidents in which CO2 suddenly escapes or from a gradual release.
Leaks could also pose risks to groundwater and the soil.
Where should storage be allowed in Germany?
For the time being, this is only planned offshore in the so-called exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
This is part of the North Sea, up to 200 nautical miles from the coastline.
Marine protected areas are excluded.
Storage on land, for example in former gas and oil deposits, should remain ruled out for the time being.
If the federal states ask for this, it can be discussed, said Habeck.
The CO2 is to be brought to the storage location via a network of pipelines that is yet to be built.
What does CCS bring in terms of climate protection?
Experts largely agree that CCS is necessary as a supplement to make some industries climate neutral.
The German climate goal - climate neutrality by 2045 - can only be achieved with CO2 storage, said German climate researcher Ottmar Edenhofer.
Habeck emphasized: “We are no longer in a world in which we can cherry-pick, but in which we have to use what is available.” Time is up.
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However, it is controversial whether the technology should also be made possible where CO2 emissions can generally be avoided.
Environmental associations warn that this could make climate protection progress even slower.
If CO2 can be captured again, there will be less effort to avoid it.
How is the federal government addressing the fears?
Habeck emphasized: “The focus of our efforts is always to prevent emissions from occurring in the first place.” The strategic focus of the CCS strategy is on emissions that are difficult or impossible to avoid, which occur, for example, from waste incineration or in the cement industry, even if you uses renewable energies.
In such sectors, the federal government also wants to financially support the most efficient projects.
There should be no support for energy production where emissions can be avoided.
Coal-fired power plants should also not have access to the pipeline network because the coal phase-out should remain the same.
Things are different for gas power plants, to the dismay of environmentalists.
NABU Federal Managing Director Leif Miller described it as a wrong signal to also include emissions from fossil power plants.
“The focus must continue to be clearly on the expansion of renewable energies and the complete phase-out of fossil fuels,” he warned.
BUND boss Olaf Bandt warned that Habeck was putting the exit from fossil fuels at risk.
“Under the sea CO2 dumps” could soon become a reality - despite dangerous risks to human health and marine life.
Basically giving Habeck a free pass and making the gas companies' business even more profitable.
What's next?
Habeck has so far discussed the planned reform with the Chancellery and the Ministry of Finance.
There is a fundamental agreement among the coalition partners, he said.
But the official coordination with all federal ministries is still ongoing.
The Ministry of the Environment announced that it would submit its position.
A speaker highlighted the function of the oceans' natural climate protection.
We therefore welcome the fact that marine protected areas are excluded.
There are likely to be more heated discussions in the Bundestag - including in Habeck's own Green party.
“The Green parliamentary group rejects CCS in gas power plants,” said Green MP Lisa Badum to the news portal t-online.
FDP MP Lukas Köhler, on the other hand, described the plans as a historic milestone on the path to climate neutrality.
Ultimately, in industry and also in gas power plants, costs should determine whether CCS or other technologies are used to avoid CO2 emissions.
The opposition Union fears that the plans could fail.
“There is nothing to suggest that the Fundis in the Greens and the Left in the SPD have given up their blockade stance against any progress in CO2 capture,” said CDU climate politician Andreas Jung.
The type, scope and security of the funding are unclear.
The initial plans are nevertheless well received in the industry.
The BDI sees this as an important step for the competitive transformation of the industry towards climate neutrality.
The strategy is “a signal of solidarity to Europe that we are also prepared to clean up our own door and not only want to export captured CO2 to our neighbors,” explained the chairman of the Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union (IGBCE), Michael Vassiliadis.
dpa