Overview
- The legislation, backed by CDU/CSU and SPD, shifts carbon capture and storage from research trials to commercial deployment.
- CO2 storage is prioritized beneath the seabed with prohibitions in protected areas and close to coastlines.
- States can opt in to onshore storage, and a national pipeline network is authorized to transport captured CO2.
- The policy targets hard-to-abate industries such as cement, lime and aluminium, with CCS at coal plants effectively excluded.
- Industry groups including the Carbon Management Alliance welcomed the move, while Greenpeace and BUND warned of high costs and risks, citing Norway’s Northern Lights as a key reference point for the technology.