For storing CO2 underground (Carbon Capture and Storage, CCS) as part of a comprehensive climate strategy are currently expressed in a joint paper by the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) and the environmental associations Nature Conservation Association Germany (NABU) and World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). Such technical solutions should also be used in Germany – in addition to strengthening intact ecosystems as natural carbon sinks.
Carbon Capture and StorageCCS
“As a geologist, I welcome the associations’ common position on CCS technologies. I think its implementation makes sense and is feasible.”says Professor Christoph Hilgers from the Institute for Applied Geosciences (AGW) at KIT. “There are many industrial processes in which it is unavoidable that CO2 is produced – such as cement production. The CO2 can be separated using technical processes and introduced underground via a transport infrastructure. It can be stored there permanently.” The technical feasibility was already successfully demonstrated in the USA in the 1970s. CCS is already in practical use in Norway, where around one million tons of CO2 are released underground every year.
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“The moratorium is not scientifically well founded”
In Germany, however, there is still a de facto ban on the technology. “The moratorium is not scientifically well founded”argues Hilgers. “In Germany, we generally have large volumes of rock in which it is possible to store CO2 in the long term. The CO2 is liquefied under pressure and stored at a depth of around one kilometer. There it then behaves like a liquid and tends to stay underground. The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources already extensively investigated where CCS is safely possible at the beginning of the millennium.”
Of course, you have to keep an eye on possible risks, emphasizes Hilgers, for example that CO2 can come back to the surface through old boreholes or that in certain geological constellations CO2 can also escape naturally due to excess pressure underground. “This possibility must of course be thoroughly investigated before a deposit is released. Then I consider the risk to be manageable and limited. After weighing up the opportunities and risks, I consider CCS overall to be indispensable in order to achieve our climate goals.”
Video: “KIT expert Prof. Christoph Hilgers on the capture and storage of CO2” with further information and background information.
The joint theses paper from BDI, DGB, NABU and WWF can be found here.