German lawmakers back carbon capture despite criticism from green groups
Supporters hope that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies will allow Germany to achieve climate neutrality goals by 2045 while maintaining hard-to-decarbonise heavy industries such as cement or aluminium.
The legislation foresees building carbon dioxide storage facilities "for commercial use on an industrial scale" to compensate for emissions from industries where CO2 emissions cannot be avoided.
Several major environmental advocacy groups sharply criticised the move, viewing it as an expensive ploy to continue the use of fossil fuels.
CCS technology aims to take CO2 and bury it permanently in deep underground instead of releasing it into the atmosphere.
Countries such as Denmark and Norway have launched CO2 storage projects off their coasts.
"There are still hardly any CCS plants worldwide, and the few that are in operation are extremely expensive and inefficient," Greenpeace Germany's Sophia van Vuegt said.
The German environmentalist group BUND described the law as a "gift to the fossil fuel industry" and pointed to "massive safety concerns" around CCS projects.
The group also argued that costly CCS projects would "divert enormous public and private funds" that would be better used on "real climate protection solutions".
According to the draft law, coal-fired power plants -- which are considered particularly harmful to the climate -- should be "effectively excluded" from making use of the technologies.
But van Vuegt criticised the law for allowing carbon capture at gas-fired power plants despite what she called "serious concerns".
The bill still requires the approval of the Bundesrat, the upper chamber of Germany's parliament.
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