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Today, we’re getting in to Dutch laws which are preventing new decarbonisation projects from getting off the ground.

Let’s check it out.

Stepping on Each Others Carbon

Europe’s largest port, in the Netherlands has very strict emissions laws. A cause for celebration right?… Not so fast.

See, it’s these laws themselves which are preventing a number of new projects from being initiated.

Over €10bn of green investment has stalled due to Dutch emissions laws.

The proposed projects include green hydrogen and biofuel plants that would reduce CO2 emissions by 10mn tonnes a year. Talk about stepping on your own toes.

New projects have an intense construction phase which emits Nitrogen Oxide and Nitrates which require permits.

Ever since a 2019 supreme court case ruled the Netherlands must reduce excess Nitrogen in vulnerable areas, these have become extremely difficult to come by.

There are a few solution but projects of this scale rely on Government support.

The Government does support all this right?…

Well yes but in a bizarre turn of events, the Dutch Government coalition collapsed earlier this year and a caretaker government is in place til November effectively brining all this effort to a standstill.

Delaying these projects til then could cost hundreds of millions of Euros. That’s a little more than we can afford right now…

You would have thought that with billions of Euros at stake and thousands of people involved across organisations, permits would be the least of our worries but it’s clear they’re still a concern.

Let’s hope the Dutch government cleans up their act so we can start cleaning up the environment

‘Til next time.

The Strawman

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