Translated title: Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) - Climate Policy Classification and Innovation Policy Assessment
In a joint statement on the amendment of the ETS Directive, six Eastern European EU Member States (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) joined forces in October 2015 to promote Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) within the Innovation Fund. This proposal has been than discussed also in the European Parliament. This debate raises fundamental questions about the role CCU can play for climate change mitigation and in an ecologically oriented innovation policy.
The following discussion paper "Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) - Climate Policy Classification and Innovation Policy Assessment" contributes to this debate by addressing the following core questions for an environmentally educated public without prior knowledge of CCU technologies and cylcles:
How can CCU be classified from the point of view of climate and environmental policy?
How much CO2 and from which sources is currently used in industry?
For which specific processes or applications would CO2 be useful as a raw material?
Is there an additional need for CO2 in Germany or in industrialized countries worldwide?
What general conclusions can be drawn from the assessment of CCU from the point of view of an ecologically oriented innovation policy?