Austrian Minister of Economic Affairs visited the Kirchdorfer Group cement plant on Tuesday to review a new pilot plant by Scheuch designed to separate CO2 from exhaust gases. The federal government has agreed to lift the 2011 ban.
The original prohibition was passed by the SPÖ, ÖVP, and Greens, though current law allows small-scale research projects. Hattmannsdorfer links the policy shift to the national climate law and an EIA amendment, utilizing RAG Austria AG's storage expertise.
With CO2 certificates priced at 82 euros per ton, Austrian industry faces between 4.4 and 12.1 million tons of unavoidable annual emissions by 2040. Implementing geological storage is now viewed as a critical economic necessity for the nation's industrial sector.