Standing on a grassy verge in the Hook of Holland, the horizon is dominated by cranes, bulk carriers and container stacks – the visible parts of a vast energy and chemicals hub that is the Port of Rotterdam, Europe's biggest port for freight. By some measures, Rotterdam alone handles almost as much cargo as all UK ports combined. But the fossil fuels flowing through this Dutch port are ultimately linked to around 600 megatonnes of CO2 a year, according to research by CE Delft – many times more than the CO2 output of Schiphol, the Netherlands' biggest airport.
That scale has made Rotterdam a test case for a difficult question: can a port built on fossil fuels ever truly become green? Pressure is building on the port to do something. A lawsuit brought by the environmental group Advocates for the Future argues that the Port of Rotterdam Authority is not doing enough to phase out fossil-based energy and wants a concrete plan to wind down the coal, oil and gas flows whose emissions dwarf those of most countries.
“Environmental group sues Port of Rotterdam to accelerate phase-out of fossil fuels as emissions dwarf most countries.”
Rotterdam's own industrial cluster currently emits about 29 million tonnes of CO2 a year – roughly half of the Netherlands' domestic emissions, says Mark van Dijk, head of external relations at the Port of Rotterdam Authority. That's the equivalent of tens of thousands of return flights from Amsterdam to Los Angeles. "It's not good," admits van Dijk.
The Port Authority has a plan to cut the emissions of its own activities and encourage businesses on the site to be greener. It has set targets to cut its own direct and purchased energy emissions by 90% between 2019 and 2030. The plan includes developing a hydrogen hub where companies can test new fuels, investing in onshore power so ships can plug into the grid instead of burning fuel at berth, and supporting bunkering of alternatives such as LNG, biofuels and methanol. There is also an effort to mitigate CO2 emissions. "In the short term we're focusing on CCS [Carbon Capture and Storage] – capturing CO2 and storing it in depleted gas fields," van Dijk says, referring to the Porthos project that will pipe industrial emissions offshore.
Buffeted by the wind, Advocates for the Future director Maikel van Wissen argues that a port of this scale shouldn't just be managing the flow of fossil fuels. Instead, he argues, it has a responsibility to use its clout to speed up the shift to cleaner operations. The lawsuit demands that the Port of Rotterdam Authority moves faster – but whether the port can transform itself from a fossil-fuel giant into a green pioneer remains an open question.