“The province of Groningen could be CO2035 negative by 2.” Marinus Tabak said this on Friday during a presentation at a meeting of the Commercial Club Groningen (CCG). The director of central asset management of the German energy giant RWE talked about the plans to make the Eemshaven location completely sustainable and turn it into an energy hub.
The plans don't lie. By 2030, RWE wants to use only biomass for its current coal and biomass power plant. In addition, the energy giant wants to capture and store CO2 and have a battery and solar park with a capacity of 400 megawatts in the Eemshaven. The company also wants to use hydrogen to store energy. All in all, a billion-dollar investment from the German group.
RWE has been involved in energy production for more than 120 years and has been lobbying for years with a plan to make the Eemshaven power plant more sustainable, such as for a permit to capture CO2 and use more biomass for energy production.
It is no coincidence that RWE invests so much in the Eemshaven. Tabak is convinced that the area is extremely suitable as an energy and hydrogen hub, due to the space, its location by the sea and the presence of Gasunie's hydrogen network.
CO2 neutral is insufficient
Becoming CO2 neutral is not enough, Tabak believes. According to him, negative emissions will be needed from 2035 to stay within two degrees of warming. “It is one thing that we as a society think that we have the luxury of being able to choose from different options to become more sustainable. Like: we will use wind turbines, but not sustainable biomass. We don't have that luxury at all,” Tabak emphasizes. “We must do everything we can to ensure that we no longer add CO2 to the atmosphere.”
Source: Groninger Internet Courant
