German Lower House passes law allowing underground carbon storage

The lower house of the German Bundestag parliament has cleared the way for underground carbon storage. It passed a law on Thursday that identifies CO2 storage and pipelines to be of "overriding interest" in order to accelerate planning and approval.

This measure aims to assist Germany in achieving climate neutrality by the year 2045. It does this by enabling capture and storage for emissions that are difficult to reduce, such as those from cement production, lime production and waste incineration.

The law permits the use of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), but prohibits it for coal-fired power stations. Onshore storage is generally prohibited. However, federal states may opt to allow it by passing their own laws.

Industry groups welcomed this move, but argued that public funding was needed to develop the infrastructure for CO2 transport. They argued that hubs and pipelines would be crucial to scaling up the technology. Environmental campaigners warned, however, that the reform may undermine efforts to reduce emissions at source.

In Germany, CO2 underground storage has only been allowed for research purposes.

BUNDESTAG Abolishes the Gas Storage Levy

On Thursday, the Bundestag abolished the gas storage levies that had been used by the government to fund the filling of storage facilities after the energy crisis in 2022.

The Climate and Transformation Fund will be used to cover costs up to 2025, which could amount to 3.4 billion Euros ($4 billion).

After Russia's massive attack on Ukraine, the levy was implemented to cover the cost of replacing Russian gas. The levy was added to the gas bill, so consumers and businesses paid for strategic gas purchases indirectly through higher energy prices.

(source: Reuters)