In Germany the planned storage sites in for example Schleswig Holstein and Saxony Anhalt has been met with protests. The sites have been researched and developed for their good geographical capabilities to be secure and good storage projects. But as they are onshore and in populated areas, the plans has arisen local protest, organized in various citizen groups.
The intitiative taken by the two embassys brougt toghether environmental groups from Germany, UK, Brüssel and Norway, and a whole range of local citizen groups in, or near by, potential storage sites in Germany. During the day, the whole CCS chain and every kind of possible view was covered. It created a ground for exchange of arguments and knowledge which is very much needed. It was also clear that how a storage site is proposed, developed and communicated, and on the other hand intepreted, very much interlinks with who is doing the communication. And that the growing protest towards the coal industry and the very negative view on nuclear storage and so called "eco-dumping" in Germany, has a big effect on how every proposed storage site is taken by a local community. Fear, and a feeling of getting confusing and various information, and the need for neutral stakeholders, were some of the key issues presented. ZERO very much welcomes any initiative that brings together groups that are postive towards CCS, and those who are sceptic and opposed. It is vital to bring forward the facts about geograpchial security, a framework that respects the need for some kind of compensation, and a suitable legal framework for underground storage on an industrial scale, transport and capture in parallel to and on the basis of the European legal framework.
The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and the Federal Ministry of the Environment, should have passed the legislation by the Parliament in June 2009. However, regional political dispute, public protest against storage projects and the upcoming elections brought the process to a halt. Also the construction of so called climate pipelines that run through several different states provide challenges as governments from different states are part of the negotiation process. The legislation will be taken on the agenda this year, and may be finished by the end of 2010, to be put in use by 2011.
List of attendees here
