Jeannette Baljeu: “This declaration of intent is an important step towards reaching concrete and binding customized agreements between government and industrial companies. The customized agreements are necessary to accelerate the sustainability of the industry and thus achieve environmental benefits and nitrogen reduction.”
Use of green electricity and hydrogen
LyondellBasell has 5 production locations in the Netherlands, the headquarters for Europe and Asia and provides approximately 1,950 jobs. In the Netherlands, LyondellBasell processes raw materials needed for our daily products such as detergents, mattresses, sports shoes and cosmetics, but also for biofuels, insulation materials and wind turbine blades. Three routes are being investigated to make the production process in the factories in the Rotterdam-Moerdijk cluster more sustainable.
The first route is a partial switch to green electricity. To this end, the company wants to investigate the possibilities of converting installations that still use fossil fuels. The second route is a partial switch from natural gas to hydrogen as a fuel. As a possible third route, it is examined whether Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can be used as an intermediate step in sustainability, especially if the preconditions for the first 2 routes are not sufficient in the short term.
Ultimately, the company wants to completely switch to the use of green electricity and hydrogen in production processes, which will then result in no CO at all2 more is emitted.
Steam network
LyondellBasell and other companies also plan to invest in a steam network, which will enable the exchange of residual heat between industrial companies. As a result, these companies in the cluster do not have to generate any or less steam themselves. This project can save natural gas and therefore CO2 and nitrogen reduced.
In addition to the proposed CO2reduction, LyondellBasell also plans to contribute to sustainability and a healthy living environment in 2030 in other ways. Such as making the production process more circular at an accelerated pace, investing more in chemical recycling or looking at options for carbon capture and Utilization (CCU) method CO2 to reuse instead of storing.
Next steps for a customized approach
This declaration of intent is an important first step in the customized approach and works towards binding agreements. With the tailor-made approach, the government is making ambitious agreements with the largest industrial emitters to reduce their CO2-reduce emissions additionally and faster and also contribute to a healthy, clean and safe living environment. The government aims to have clarity by mid-2024 and to be able to translate the ambitions of companies into binding, individual tailor-made agreements.
Opportunity for acceleration
As the province of South Holland, we share the ambitions of the government’s tailor-made approach. In the tailor-made agreements we see opportunities for linking up with other aspects that play a role in companies in the field of a healthy living environment. This includes existing agreements in the context of the Clean Air Agreement, the Water Framework Directive and energy savings. It is not logical or efficient to approach companies separately for this. Tackling the various topics in context therefore brings a number of advantages. Greater progress can be made in cleaning up the living environment, companies are not unnecessarily harassed and the licensing capacity is used more efficiently.