German lower house passes law to allow underground carbon storage

By Holger Hansen

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s Bundestag lower house of parliament cleared the way on Thursday for underground carbon storage, passing a law that designates CO2 storage sites and pipelines as being of “overriding public interest” to speed up planning and approvals.

The measure is intended to help Germany achieve climate neutrality by 2045 by enabling the capture and storage of hard-to-abate emissions, notably from cement and lime production and from waste incineration.

The law allows the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) at gas‑fired power plants but bans it at coal‑fired plants. Onshore storage remains generally prohibited, though federal states can opt in by passing their own legislation.

Industry groups welcomed the move but called for public funding to build out