The driving force of the European Union's economy and, in effect, the mainstay of Europe's political and economic independence is Germany, which is why this country's role in economic transformation, in questions of climate neutrality and in the implementation of security policy is of decisive importance for all EU member states. In order to find one's bearings in the goals and tasks of Germany's present-day political and economic development, information is needed on the underlying reasoning and on the direction of the measures to be taken.

With the revision of the German Federal Climate Protection Act, which took place in 2021, the country has committed itself to becoming climate-neutral by 2045. This means that all greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced as far as possible by means of targeted CO₂ emission reduction strategies, for example through the use of climate-neutral energy carriers. In addition, unavoidable CO₂ emissions must be offset by natural and technical CO₂ sinks.

What is carbon management?

Carbon management covers all the measures needed to ensure a sustainable approach to managing unavoidable CO₂ emissions. Although the main focus must be on preventing greenhouse gas emissions, carbon management is an essential component in achieving climate neutrality in 2025. For the time being this target has not been dropped in the European Union.

Carbon management is a very broad concept, which usually covers:

• CO₂ capture, transport and storage (CCS)
• CO₂ capture, transport and utilisation (CCU)
• CO₂ removal from the atmosphere (CDR)

Dealing with residual emissions

Even with a complete withdrawal from fossil energy resources, there will still be CO₂ emissions from various industrial processes, such as the production of steel, cement, lime and glass. This is particularly significant at a time when arms manufacturing is being scaled up for the European Union's defence purposes, which means one must reckon with the climate neutrality targets becoming harder to reach because of the intensification of heavy industry. Emissions of other greenhouse gases will also remain, such as methane (CH₄) or nitrous oxide (N₂O), particularly from agriculture. These residual emissions have to be offset by CO₂ removal combined with the use of natural and technical sinks.

In the German Energy Agency's study “Getting Started on Climate Neutrality” (Aufbruch Klimaneutralität), the volume of residual emissions in 2045 is estimated at some 60 million tonnes of CO₂. This will have to be offset by technical sinks.

CO₂ circular economy requirements

In many of Germany's basic materials industries, carbon is an essential raw material. In the production of synthetic fuels or in the chemical industry, CO₂ serves as an important source.

Carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) can help to replace traditional carbon sources in industrial processes, reducing demand for fossil carbon sources within the economic cycle. CCU is therefore a cornerstone of the CO₂ circular economy.

The need for carbon management

The need for technical CO₂ removal is emphasised in all the major studies of Germany's climate neutrality targets: as already noted, in the study “Aufbruch Klimaneutralität”, and also in the BDI study “Klimapfade 2.0 – Ein Wirtschaftsprogramm für Klima und Zukunft” and in the Agora Energiewende study “Klimaneutrales Deutschland 2045.”

Technical CO₂ removal refers to all methods by which CO₂ is captured from point sources or from the atmosphere. Point sources are large industrial facilities, such as arms industry and cement plants, or thermal waste treatment plants.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), too, stressed the need to remove CO₂ by technical means in its sixth assessment report, published in the spring of 2022. The report states that, in order to limit warming to 1.5 °C (or well below 2 °C), substantial and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are required, including the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere and from point sources.

The IPCC report models strategies that rely on both natural and technical CO₂ removal in order to offset residual greenhouse gas emissions. It notes that in the second half of the 21st century the rate of CO₂ absorption by land systems and the oceans will decline, and stresses that technical CO₂ removal will become ever more important as a complement to emission reduction efforts, in order to achieve climate neutrality and limit global warming to the target of 1.5°C (or well below 2°C). It should be stressed once again that the modelling of these strategies is based on the climate neutrality targets as they currently stand, which may well be revised in the European Union.

Establishing a legal framework

The German government's carbon dioxide emissions management strategy is aimed at decarbonising those industrial processes in which emissions are hard to avoid, for example in the steel, cement and lime industries and in waste management. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) are regarded as the principal means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The most important measures to be taken

• Storage at sea: the exploration and use of CO₂ storage facilities is planned in Germany's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Storage restrictions are to be set for marine protected areas. Storage at sea remains excluded, with the option for individual federal states to “opt in”
• CO₂ infrastructure: a private CO₂ pipeline infrastructure is to be built; legal uncertainties in the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act (KSpG) must be removed. The federal government has already submitted a draft amendment to the KSpG for consultation.
• No funding for fossil fuels: the phase-out of coal will remain in force, and there are no plans to fund CCS/CCU at fossil fuel power stations. The use of gaseous energy sources or biomass will be permitted, in view of a technologically open transition. Funding will also be provided for emissions that are difficult or impossible to avoid. The funding guidelines “Federal Funding for Industry and Climate Protection” provide for targeted support for projects in industry and waste management.
• European cooperation: Germany is seeking closer cooperation with Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, which have already developed advanced storage projects
• Long-term decarbonisation strategy: the carbon management strategy is complemented by a long-term strategy for negative emissions based on technologies such as direct air capture and storage (DACCS) and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). Both technologies are intended to help offset unavoidable emissions.

The scientific and political context

The German government's carbon management strategy is based on the latest scientific findings, including the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which regards CCS/CCU as necessary in order to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. These technologies are developing dynamically at the international level. Germany wants to work on an equal footing with the countries leading in this field, such as Norway and the United States, in terms of both technology and regulation. It has to be acknowledged that US policy in this area has changed and that cooperation with the United States is currently rather hard to predict.