12 March 2026

Making industry more sustainable: a question of both/and, not either/or

Industry faces a double challenge: remaining competitive and decarbonising at a rapid pace. This urgency is particularly palpable in and around Rotterdam, the beating heart of European industry and innovation.
Despite its strong starting position, the Rotterdam industrial cluster is under pressure due to higher energy prices compared to neighbouring countries, grid congestion and the ongoing nitrogen issue. This is worsening the investment climate, while investments are needed now more than ever to switch to new, sustainable technologies.

Multiple tracks simultaneously
No single measure is sufficient on its own. Sustainability requires a smart combination of electrification, the use of low-carbon hydrogen, efficiency improvements, circularity and carbon capture and storage (CCS). CCS is essential where emissions are difficult to avoid and can enable significant reductions in the short term. In order to achieve the climate targets, the use of this technology is also necessary.

Electricity instead of fossil fuels
Electrification is an important route to reducing CO₂ emissions. By converting processes that currently run on fossil fuels to renewable electricity, emissions can be significantly reduced. However, this requires a considerable expansion of the electricity grid and sufficient availability of affordable green electricity.

Hydrogen as a link for heavy industry
Hydrogen is a crucial link, particularly in sectors where very high temperatures are required or in industries where hydrogen is already used as a raw material, such as in the chemical and refining industries. Green hydrogen, produced using sustainable electricity, can replace natural gas, but the necessary production capacity and infrastructure still need to be developed on a large scale. ‘Hydrogen is essential for making industry more sustainable. That is why we are now investing in a national hydrogen network. The first part of this, in Rotterdam, is now complete,’ says Helmie Botter, Director of Hydrogen Transport at Gasunie.

Efficiency and circularity as direct gains
Energy efficiency and circularity also contribute to CO₂ reduction. Smarter processes, heat recovery and the use of recycled or biobased raw materials can significantly reduce the demand for fossil raw materials and energy. Nevertheless, there are still sectors in which substantial emissions remain, even with maximum commitment to these measures. In the cement and lime industry, CO₂ is generated not only by combustion, but also by chemical reactions in the production process. Such process emissions are difficult, and sometimes impossible, to avoid. Other sectors, such as refineries, make intensive use of hydrogen produced from natural gas (grey hydrogen). As green hydrogen is not yet widely available, CO₂ capture leading to low-carbon hydrogen offers a solution for rapid CO₂ reduction.

CCS for unavoidable emissions
It is precisely in these cases that CCS comes into play. This technology captures CO₂ at source and stores it permanently. In the Netherlands, this is being implemented through the Porthos project, which transports CO₂ from companies in the Rotterdam port area and stores it permanently and safely in depleted gas fields under the North Sea. Porthos stores up to 2.5 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. The CO₂ reduction that can be achieved with the Porthos system is equivalent to the total annual CO₂ emissions of approximately 560,000 Dutch households. This makes CCS a pragmatic solution for emissions that cannot be avoided in the short term. Gemmeke Groot, project director at Porthos, says: ‘CCS is not an alternative to sustainability, but a supplement. For process emissions in, for example, refining and chemicals, it is currently the only realistic way to reduce large volumes of CO₂ quickly.’

Acceleration instead of delay
Critics fear that CCS would slow down the transition, but proponents emphasise that the technology actually enables acceleration. After all, the development of completely climate-neutral production methods takes years, if not decades. In the meantime, CCS can reduce large volumes of CO₂ and thus contribute to achieving climate goals without losing production capacity. In the context of a resilient Europe, it is ultimately very important to preserve industry that is capable of decarbonisation. CCS therefore fits into a broader strategy towards climate neutrality and strategic autonomy. It is a building block within a larger system, alongside electrification, hydrogen and circular production.

Conditions for success
There is no doubt that the industry must become more sustainable. The question is, under what conditions? Companies need stable policies so that investments with a term of several decades are justified. ‘By participating in Porthos, we will soon reduce the CO₂ emissions of our refinery by more than 20%. Shell wants to continue investing in sustainability, but this requires an attractive investment climate, affordable energy and a level playing field for Dutch industry compared to other countries,’ emphasises Richard Zwinkels, General Manager of the Shell Pernis refinery. Infrastructure is a crucial prerequisite for this: without pipelines for hydrogen and CO₂, without sufficient grid capacity and without access to storage locations, the transition will remain stuck in good intentions.

Joost Hooghiem, Director of CCS at EBN, recognises another important condition for success, namely the role of public parties. “Public organisations such as EBN play an important role in building a new market, such as the CCS market. Through our share position in CO₂ transport, such as Porthos and Aramis, as well as in the 10 CO₂ storage sites in the North Sea and the contribution of knowledge, we ensure stability, risk reduction and long-term security. In doing so, we create the confidence needed to get investments and cooperation off the ground. In this way, we build trust to move from ambition to action: in industry, in society and on our joint path to a climate-neutral future.”
An equally important prerequisite is affordable energy; international competition waits for no one.

Cooperation in strong clusters
The decarbonisation of industry requires close cooperation between companies, governments and infrastructure managers. In strong industrial clusters, infrastructure costs can be shared and economies of scale exploited. This makes clusters a powerful driver behind the acceleration of the energy transition. As Egbert van der Wal, Director of Port Development at the Port of Rotterdam Authority, puts it: “The port of Rotterdam not only faces the challenge of becoming climate neutral itself, but also plays a key role in the success of the climate-neutral and circular society through the energy, products, materials and logistics services it provides. Rotterdam is pre-eminently a place where businesses, government and infrastructure partners work together to reduce the cluster’s CO2 emissions, and Porthos is a good example of this.

Coherence is the key to success
Ultimately, it is not a choice between technologies, but a combination of them. Electrification where possible, hydrogen where necessary, circularity where it pays off and CCS where emissions would otherwise remain unavoidable. Anyone who takes climate targets seriously cannot afford to rule out any technologies. The challenge is great, but the tools are available. Now it is a matter of deploying them in a targeted and coherent manner.

Porthos is a partnership between the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Gasunie and Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN). The first customers to supply CO2 to the Porthos collection pipeline are Shell, Air Liquide, Air Products and ExxonMobil. The project is made possible in part by funding from the European Commission.