Germany plans to allow underground carbon storage at offshore sites, pushing forward a much-discussed technology as it recognizes that time is running out to fight climate change, the country’s vice chancellor said on Monday.
Europe’s largest economy is making good progress in expanding the sources and use of renewable energy, but a solution is needed for carbon dioxide emitted by some sectors such as the cement industry that are ‘difficult to abate’ , said Robert Habeck, who also covers economics. and climate minister.
Germany, which is home to many energy-intensive industries, aims to reduce its emissions to “net zero” by 2045.
Habeck’s proposed “carbon management strategy”, which has yet to be turned into detailed legislation, plans to allow the transport of carbon dioxide and its storage under the sea in Germany’s exclusive economic zone, with the exception of marine protected areas . It does not envisage permitting storage sites on land, but Habeck said this could be considered later if German state governments approve it.
Opponents argue that so-called carbon capture and storage has not been proven at scale and has been less effective than alternatives such as solar and wind in decarbonizing the energy sector.
Habeck, a member of the environmentalist Green Party, recalled opposition to carbon storage when it was discussed in the 2000s. But he said “the technology has been further developed… and from my point of view it is mature and safe,” and which is now being used elsewhere, not just in research projects.
Neighboring Denmark last year launched an ambitious project that aims to bury large amounts of carbon dioxide under the North Sea.
“Time is up,” Habeck said at a news conference in Berlin. “In the 2000s you could perhaps say: ‘let’s wait and see what might happen’; today we see that we have not found any technological solution for cement and other sectors that guarantees climate neutrality.”
“We are heading towards exceeding 1.5 degrees, which means we are no longer in a luxury or comfort zone where we can somehow wait,” Habeck added. “We have to use what we have.”
He was referring to the international goal of trying to limit future warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times.
Halting warming at around 1.5°C can avoid or at least reduce some of the most catastrophic future damage linked to climate change, and for some people it is a matter of life and death, scientists have found in multiple reports.
Habeck said it would take “a few years” before Germany could store CO2 under the sea, and that it would be wise to coordinate European efforts. In addition to the Danish project, he also indicated Norway, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
The environmental group Greenpeace complained that the German plans “bear the stigma of energy industry and heavy industry” and would also allow industries for which “climate-friendly solutions” exist to continue as they have done so far.
“This is expensive, unsustainable and burdens future generations with additional long-term liabilities,” Karsten Smid, an energy expert at the group’s German branch, said in a statement.