On Thursday, 22 October, 2020, Minister of Economic Affairs Eric Wiebes received the plans drawn up by the frontrunners from regional industry. Wiebes: ‘I am impressed by the plans. This is important, because we are heavily dependent on the industry’s contributions when it comes to the task of reducing our CO2 emissions.’ The port and industrial cluster of Rotterdam-Moerdijk also presented its plan on this occasion.
The cluster plan presented the various sustainability measures taken by the participating companies, as well as their projects and plans for the future. In the presentation clip, programme director Alice Krekt said about these initiatives: ‘Industry in our region is placed before a formidable challenge: to cut local CO2 emissions with 10 megatons by 2030. To achieve this, we need every solution we can find, and we don’t hesitate to start work on them. Our partners all work together on projects within the climate roundtable, and we fast-track their development towards the execution phase within the acceleration center.’
Three-step approach to raising sustainability
The cluster plan sees development toward greater sustainability into three key steps. The first step is to use energy more efficiently and to realise the necessary infrastructure, for example by using residual heat from industry to heat homes, commercial buildings and greenhouses and by realising the infrastructure necessary for capturing CO2 at the source. The second step involves a transformation of the current energy system, by replacing power from fossil sources with renewable energy like offshore wind power and hydrogen. In the third step, fossil-based raw materials are replaced by materials from renewable sources like biomass, biofuels and green hydrogen.
The plan also provides insight into four central value chains that form the pillars of the development towards greater sustainability: hydrogen, electrification, residual heat and circular. And finally, it pays attention to the various basic conditions for a successful transition.
Video
Click this link to watch a clip of the Minister accepting the plans and the presentation of the plans by the chairs of the various industrial clusters.