Business News

Germany clears way for underground carbon capture

Jul 7, 2011, 17:40 GMT

Berlin - The German parliament on Thursday approved legislation allowing energy companies to test technology which will capture carbon emissions and store them underground. Two to three locations will be allowed to store a maximum of three million tons per year until 2017. The opposition criticized the technology as dangerous, saying it entailed unknown risks, whilst others defended it as necessary in the fight against climate change. Jens Koeppen, of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat party, said that, without the technology, global warming could not be kept to a maximum of two degrees Celsius, and accused opponents of spreading 'German Angst.' Meanwhile, energy companies criticized a get-out clause in the legislation which will allow states where opposition to the technology is strong to refuse to have the storage facilities in their territory. 'If the law comes as it was passed in parliament today, Vattenfall won't be in a position to push forward the technology in Germany in the coming years,' said Hartmuth Zeiss, head of Vattenfall Europe Mining and Generation AG.

Business News

Germany clears way for underground carbon capture

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