From the “man-on-the-moon Moment,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as presented last December, your 100 billion Euro climate change package, under the snappy title of “Green Deal”.
by 2050, Europe will be according to the plans of the Commission of the first carbon neutral continent. But that from the moon is a Moment where a moon landing is at the end, in fact, are no longer sufficient conventional climate protection measures to avoid Emissions. This was the result of the study of “Unconventional climate protection” of the Foundation for science and politics, from the “mirror” reported in advance anyway. to achieve
the goal of the so-called net-Zero, climate neutrality by 2050, need to be removed in addition to conventional measures such as Renewable energy or energy efficiency, hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, says the study. For comparison: In Germany, the emissions in 2019 amounted to slightly more than 800 million tons.
This is the so-called “Negative emissions”. They are, according to the study, because of the residual emissions, for example, from the CO2-intensive airline industry, the steel production or agriculture never completely to Zero.
but How do you get the CO2 from the atmosphere? Possible, both technical as well as biological methods (e.g., reforestation), which are summarized under the acronym “CCS” are. CCS stands for “Carbon Capture and Storage”. Carbon dioxide is removed from active of the atmosphere and stored.
Swiss CO2 vacuum cleaner filters carbon dioxide from the air
One of the most promising technical methods is currently being tested on the Icelandic plateau of hellisheidi and developed. What looks like a futuristic Space-Iglos so-called CO2-Vepressungsanlagen of the Swiss Startups “Climeworks are”. The technical process behind it is relatively simple: By means of chemical filters process the CO2 from the nearby geokraft work on the high-level filter systems is fished directly from the air, together with water, and the depth pumped, where it reacts with the basaltic rock, and even stone. The CO2 is injected and stored underground.
in other places, the company relies on its “CO2″vacuum cleaners already, however, the CO2 is processed filtrate in these cases, different more.
in addition to the Swiss solution, also other methods, for example, the BECCS-process (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) exist. Biomass binds CO2, is converted into electricity for power generation, while the separated expectant of CO2 from the exhaust gases and stored, for example, by compression in the Rock.
As a really important support on the way to the target of achieving climate neutrality are the two CCS are not yet tangible – the potential to do this, you have free doubts, however, know Sabine walk from the “Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change” (MCC) in Berlin. Because the cost of the methods are needed to be done on the basis of their high Energy consumption – CO2-neutral – still very high compared to other CO2 removal techniques. Overall, the cost of the two methods to move between 100-300 US dollars per from the atmosphere of distant Tonne of CO2.
Higher CO2 pricing would make the technologies more attractive
In this connection, the foot refers to the currently low CO2 price, the more difficult, the profitability of such procedures. “Certainly, the price of both methods will decrease significantly when used on a large scale. A higher CO2-price per outcast ton of CO2 would make CCS technologies more attractive,” says the researcher. Arni Saeberg Aerial view of the CO2 project of the Swiss company “Climeworks” in Iceland
the foot also observed a lack of the CCS technologies and of relevant infrastructure in most of the European countries. Transportation routes and storage sites for C02-Deposition are, for example, in Germany hardly exists.
“The announced by the EU climate neutrality by 2050, and the world community in the Paris agreement of 2015, aimed at limiting global warming to as 1.5 degrees mean a Decarbonisation of the economy,” says foot. “And since the CO2-emissions in some areas may not technically be as fast to Zero, we need to compensate for that.” However, it is not clear how the without CCS technology could go.
The MCC employee advertises, therefore, for an in-depth discussion about how and which technologies will be in the next years.
“According to current knowledge, the application of CCS is not required”
The Federal environment Agency is holding back in this point, however. “According to the current state of knowledge, the application of CCS is not required to meet the climate protection objectives in Germany,” reads a report from the year 2018. The authority refers to the potential risks of CCS technologies. CO2 leaks in underground storage, groundwater, and soil could contaminate.
The report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) from the year 2019 signed, however, a more nuanced picture. Only if the world’s population to reduce their emissions very quickly, the climate target of 1.5 degrees without the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere is possible. Less meat consumption, reduced energy consumption, but also an ambitious climate policy, the report identifies the necessary measures. In all other scenarios, the IPCC, the active CO2 removal is important for achieving climate policy objectives, however, are unavoidable.
CCS: Norway as a pioneer
While Central Europe is doing with the use of the CCS technologies are still difficult, is a Scandinavian country already significantly more. In the Norwegian Kollsnes, nearly 50 kilometres to the North-West of Bergen, was built in the last year, a unique carbon dioxide between the bearings as a part of the “Northern-Lights-Projects”.
From there it is pumped to the CO2 via existing Pipeline systems in empty Gas and oil Fields off the coast and stored. And The Scandinavians think big. Are planned dam capacity of 5 million tonnes of CO2 per year. From other countries, CO2 is to be removed – carbon dioxide storage as a new business model. In the FOCUS Online/Wochit In the
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