Overview

• The federal government submitted a draft amendment to the Kohlendioxid-Speichergesetz on August 3 for expedited review to permit domestic carbon capture and storage operations.
• Industry bodies such as the Verein Deutscher Zementwerke praised the proposal as essential for cutting hard-to-abate emissions in cement, steel and waste incineration sectors.
• Environmental groups and the Verband kommunaler Unternehmen decry the abbreviated consultation period and warn of groundwater contamination risks and long-term policy lock-in.
• Hamburg’s Second Mayor Katharina Fegebank argued CCS is indispensable for meeting climate targets and has commissioned a feasibility study to capture CO2 from the city’s waste-to-energy plants.
• Germany currently relies on Norway’s new Brevik facility and lacks its own storage sites and pipelines, with experts estimating at least a decade to develop domestic infrastructure.