Germany’s change of heart on CCS

Technology shunned by country’s politicians for more than a decade looks set for a key role in government’s new decarbonisation strategy

Germany’s long-standing resistance to the use of CCS is softening as pressure mounts on the government to get its decarbonisation strategy back on track. Ministers are expected to set out a plan for the technology when they publish a carbon management strategy later this year. Depending on the government’s readiness to support domestic projects, this could open the door to the development of significant new CCS capacity in Germany for the first time since the failure more than a decade ago of two high-profile pilot projects that sparked a public and political backlash against the technology. It could also give fresh impetus to existing projects aimed at capturing CO₂ in Germany for transport