NGOs urge strict limits on Germany’s CCS use, criticise law reform

The German government's current plan for allowing carbon capture and storage (CCS) is far too permissive and set to delay the phase-out of fossil fuels, said environmental NGOs. They urged lawmakers to reject current reform plans for the carbon storage law as proposed by the cabinet. The plans would “allow CCS to be widely used for avoidable emissions from the use of fossil resources, for example in industrial process heat or electricity generation,” the organisations wrote in an open letter. “This poses a threat to real emissions reduction and the transformation of industry and counteracts the necessary rapid phase-out of fossil fuels.”

The signatories, which include Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), and the WWF, said they are “particularly concerned” about the consideration of CCS on gas-fired power plants because large emissions happen already before the gas is burned, for example during gas extraction and transport. “Connecting coal and gas-fired power plants to a future CO2 disposal infrastructure must be ruled out at all costs,” the letter states. “The use of CCS in the energy sector reduces incentives to reduce emissions, as we already have a clear alternative for generating electricity today: renewable energies.”

In industry, “priority must be given to avoiding emissions through energy efficiency and circular economy strategies such as substitution and reduction of material requirements”, the signatories argue. “The wrong course must not be set for the use of CCS in these areas, as investment in CCS plants and infrastructure would cement the use of gas, coal and oil in industry for several decades.”

Years of protest against industry plans to use carbon capture and storage (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 the debate on the issue of combatting CO2 emissions that are difficult to avoid, for example in cement production.

Germany's government has launched a push for technologies to capture, store, transport and use CO2 (CCS/CCU) and is set to soon adopt its Carbon Management Strategy. It is meant to create the framework for using these technologies, especially in sectors where emissions are difficult or impossible to avoid, such as cement production, waste incineration or in the chemical industry. The reform of the carbon storage law is part of the strategy. It would allow the storage of CO2 under the seabed, as well as onshore. The government also wants to allow CCS on gas-fired power plants, but not on coal-fired installations.