Carbon capture and storage, or CCS, removes from the atmosphere carbon dioxide produced by industrial processes or captures it at the point of emission and stores it underground.
In Germany, its use has been restricted, but as Europe's largest CO2 polluter is likely to miss its climate goals, Berlin has reconsidered, estimating the need to capture between 34 million and 73 million tons per year by 2045.
Carbon intensive industries which cannot be electrified, apart from coal-fired power plants, will be able to use the technology, according to the new bill, which will also create a legal framework to develop a CO2 pipeline infrastructure.
Companies will be allowed to store CO2 in the bed of the North Sea or inland if the federal states allow it on their territory. Geologically, Germany has around 1.5 billion to 8.3 billion tons of CO2 storage capacity under its part of the North Sea and could deposit up to 20 million tons annually.
Under the plans, CO2 exports will be allowed but Berlin will need to ratify a clause in the London Protocol international treaty on cross-border waste exports, which was amended in 2009, to allow the transport of CO2 for sub-seabed storage.
