The Federal Cabinet has adopted the key points for a Carbon Management Strategy (CMS) and a draft law based on this to amend the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act. According to this, the use of CCS and CCU as well as the transportation and offshore storage ofCO2 are to be made possible. Marine protected areas will be excluded fromCO2 storage. The strategic focus for the use of CCS is on emissions that are difficult or impossible to avoid. CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) stands for the capture and storage ofCO2, CCU (Carbon Capture and Usage) for the capture and use ofCO2.
With the draft bill for an amendment to the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act (KSpG), the German government primarily wants to create a clear legal framework for the development of aCO2 pipeline infrastructure and enable the offshore storage ofCO2. The bill will now be forwarded to the Bundestag and Bundesrat and then discussed in the parliamentary process. The permanent storage ofCO2 in the geological underground on the German mainland (onshore) will still not be made possible by the federal law. However, in addition to the draft from the end of February 2024, based on feedback from the federal states, a legal basis will be created in the KSpG that allows individual federal states to opt-in to the permanent storage ofCO2 in the geological subsurface on the territory of the German mainland (onshore storage) on their respective state territory, provided that the states decide to do so through state law.
