Since March 17, companies and knowledge institutions have been able to submit a pre-registration for a new call for proposals within the MOOI scheme for carbon removal. Notably, the RVO explicitly mentions scope for long-term storage of CO2 in products, including storage of CO2 from air, water, or biogenic point sources, and storage of CO2 in materials consisting of biomass.
With this, the scheme directly touches upon the domain of bio-based raw materials. While carbon removal is often primarily linked to capture and underground storage, this opening demonstrates that bio-based materials are also coming into focus within Dutch innovation policy. This policy line follows from the way RVO has defined the innovation theme for long-term storage of CO2 in products.
Long-term storage in products
Within the scheme, RVO distinguishes three innovation themes: techniques for CO2 capture, techniques for permanent carbon removal, and techniques for long-term storage of CO2 in products. For the latter theme, the products must store the CO2 for at least 35 years. RVO cites as examples storage via carbonates or other chemical reactions, storage of CO2 from the air in bio-based materials, and research into the preconditions for such routes.
This is relevant because it considers not only the removal of carbon from the atmosphere or from biogenic sources, but also the question of in which products that carbon can be permanently sequestered. The scheme mentions sectors such as industry, the built environment, and agriculture.
Not all routes count
At the same time, the scheme draws clear boundaries. RVO focuses on technical innovations and excludes natural solutions within this innovation theme. In the manual, fixation in plants, trees, soils, and ground falls outside this scope. The burial of biomass is also not included in this opening.
As a result, the emphasis is not on classic land-based climate measures, but on innovative materials, processes, and supply chains in which carbon demonstrably remains stored in the economy for the long term. For a site like Biomassafeiten, this is particularly relevant: bio-based raw materials are not viewed here as an energy source, but as a carrier of carbon storage in materials and products. This classification is an interpretation of the regulation, based on the delimitation and examples provided by RVO.
Pre-registration required
The call for proposals includes a mandatory pre-registration period. This runs from 17 March 2026 at 09:00 to 16 April 2026 at 17:00. Subsequently, selected consortiums of at least three enterprises may submit a final application between 2 June and 3 September 2026. The total budget amounts to 10 million euros, and the maximum subsidy per project is 4 million euros.
Biobased materials are given a visible place
The significance of this scheme lies primarily in its policy recognition. RVO demonstrates that carbon removal in the Netherlands is viewed not only as a matter of underground capture and storage, but also as a question of innovation regarding materials and biogenic carbon. In doing so, biobased materials are given a visible place in a subsidy scheme intended for future climate solutions.
Source: RVO, MOOI Carbon Removal
AI-generated image of biobased materials
