Why Germany needs a carbon management strategy

The policy brief contends that Germany cannot achieve climate neutrality by 2045 without carbon management technologies, including carbon capture and storage (CCS), direct air capture (DAC), and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). It highlights that current industrial emissions reductions are insufficient and that a lack of CO2 transport infrastructure and storage sites within Germany necessitates a strategy to connect to regional hubs in Northern Europe. The document further argues that carbon management is essential for decarbonizing the hydrogen economy—specifically through the use of blue hydrogen—and for producing the low-carbon industrial materials required for the renewable energy transition.

• Four major modeling studies (Ariadne, Agora Energiewende, Dena, and BDI) conclude that reaching net zero by 2045 requires the use of carbon capture and storage, direct air capture, and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.
• To meet 2045 neutrality goals, Germany's industrial CO2 emissions must drop from nearly 180 million tons per year in 2021 to 40 million tons per year by 2030; this may require up to 30% of steel and cement facilities to be equipped with CCS by 2030.
• Germany's hydrogen strategy faces risks if it relies solely on electrolysis, as the scale-up of renewable electricity is not fast enough to replace coal and nuclear power while also meeting hydrogen demand. The document suggests blue hydrogen as a necessary transition option.
• The production of low-carbon materials for the energy transition, such as steel for wind turbines, requires carbon management to avoid increasing emissions during the build-out of renewable infrastructure.
• Because Germany has no domestic CO2 storage, it must develop cross-border transport networks to access storage hubs in the Netherlands, Norway, and Denmark, though current London Protocol rules present a barrier to cross-border transport for sea disposal.

APA

Pernot, E. (2022). Why Germany needs a carbon management strategy. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2022/04/why-germany-needs-carbon-management-strategy/

Chicago

Pernot, Eadbhard. Why Germany needs a carbon management strategy. Clean Air Task Force, 2022. https://www.catf.us/2022/04/why-germany-needs-carbon-management-strategy/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pernot |first1=Eadbhard |title=Why Germany needs a carbon management strategy |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=5 April 2022 |url=https://www.catf.us/2022/04/why-germany-needs-carbon-management-strategy/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pernot2022why, author = {Pernot, Eadbhard}, title = {{Why Germany needs a carbon management strategy}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://www.catf.us/2022/04/why-germany-needs-carbon-management-strategy/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }