Failed law reform means Germany loses one year in efforts to establish CCS – cement industry

Parties’ failure to agree on final details of a reform to allow carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Germany ahead of the election on 23 February will set efforts back significantly, industry representatives told business magazine Wirtschaftswoche. “We will probably lose a good year in building a CO2 infrastructure,” said Martin Schneider, managing director of cement industry association VDZ.

The outgoing coalition government had prepared the reform of Germany’s carbon storage law and introduced it in parliament in 2024. At the time, the Free Democrats (FDP) were still part of the coalition and insisted successfully that CCS should also be allowed for gas-fired power plants. After the coalition break-up, lawmakers from the remaining partners – the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens – no longer supported the reform, and instead intensified efforts in parliament discussions to rid the draft of this provision. This is why the reform has failed to garner a majority in parliament, despite support from the conservative opposition (CDU/CSU). The reform is not on the agenda for parliament’s last session in this legislative period on 11 February. It would have to be re-introduced in parliament in the next legislative period. 

Long-term storage of CO2 is currently forbidden in Germany, and capture and transport face significant regulatory hurdles. Years of protest against industry plans to use CCS as a lifeline for coal power have made the technology a no-go issue for many politicians in Germany, Europe and beyond. Yet, countries' goals of climate neutrality around mid-century reopened debate on the issue of combatting CO2 emissions that are difficult to avoid, for example in cement production. The German government has proposed plans to make CCS possible to help the country reach greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. State support would focus on capturing and storing or using carbon from industrial processes where emissions are difficult or impossible to avoid.