CO₂ transport as a focus of policymakers

In February 2024, the EU Commission presented a carbon management strategy. The strategy is part of a package of measures aimed at achieving "net zero" CO₂ emissions by 2050. At EU level, a target is set for the development of capacities for the geological storage of CO₂. The aim is to achieve an annual capacity of at least 50 million tonnes of CO₂ by 2030. In addition, the European Commission proposed the Net-Zero Industry Act (NZIA) on 16 March 2023. The Net-Zero Industry Act is part of the Green Deal Industrial Plan for a predictable and simplified regulatory environment, which aims to promote investments that are crucial to achieving the EU's climate neutrality targets.

The coalition agreement between the SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens, and the FDP states, in the chapter on ‘Transformation of the Economy’: “We acknowledge the necessity of technical negative emissions as well, and will develop a long-term strategy for dealing with the approximately five percent of unavoidable residual emissions.”¹³

The Carbon Dioxide Transport and Storage Act (KSpTG) is intended to regulate the legal basis for the capture, transport and storage of CO₂ (CCS) and the decarbonization of CO₂ (CCU). In February 2024, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) published a draft of the First Act to Amend the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act. Among other things, this draft contains measures to promote the use of CCS/CCU technologies, particularly in emission-intensive sectors with emissions that are difficult to avoid. A central aspect of the draft is the development of a pipeline infrastructure for the transport of CO₂ in order to enable efficient and safe transport of the captured CO₂ to the places where it is stored or utilized.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (MWIDE) published the Carbon Management Strategy for the state in October 2021, which addresses four areas of action: decarbonisation, sustainable carbon use, CO₂ management and social discourse. A crucial element for climate-neutral industry in NRW is considered to be a circular carbon economy, along with holistic management of CO₂ by means of capture, transportation, utilization and storage, since full decarbonisation is not possible, it states. The strategy also points out that a pipeline-based CO₂ infrastructure is required for the industrial scale in NRW.¹⁴

In February 2024, the BMWK published a key issues paper on the long-term strategy for negative emissions to deal with unavoidable residual emissions (Lne). The Lne is intended to clarify the role of CO₂ removal for climate protection in Germany up to 2060 and define target values for technical sinks for the years 2035, 2040 and 2045. The aim is to analyse the need and possibilities for the expansion of a CO₂ infrastructure for the capture, use and storage of CO₂ from the atmosphere and to make proposals for reliable and cost-effective provision.