Germany Passes CCS Law

After a long delay, the German parliament has passed a law permitting a limited number of CCS pilot projects to go forward.  Early versions of the bill would have allowed underground storage of up to 3 million tons of CO2, but the final text adopted by the Bundestag and Bundesrat allows for only 1.3 million tons of carbon storage.  The ruling coalition of Christian Democrats and Free Democrats carried the measure over the objections of the Greens and the Left party, while the opposition Social Democrats abstained from voting.  Importantly, the new law permits individual states to prohibit underground carbon storage within their jurisdictions.  Mecklenburg-West Pomerania currently prohibits CCS, and Schleswig-Holstein is considering a ban.