Rotterdam Port Authority is launching a major project to persuade the city’s industry to capture their carbon dioxide emissions. The region accounts for 20% of carbon emissions in the Netherlands, Trouw reported on Friday.

Although carbon capture is very expensive, the port authority believes it will be feasible if enough companies take part and discharge their emissions into the bed of the North Sea using a single, large pipeline, the paper said.

The new government has set a target of 18 millions of carbon dioxide in storage by 2030, a target many have said is unfeasible.

Pipelines

Port director Allard Castelein told a congress on carbon capture on Thursday that the port authority first plans to develop the pipelines for carbon capture on its own land and will then encourage firms to pump their own emissions into the network.

‘They need to deliver it to the port, we will do the rest,’ Trouw quotes him as saying.

The paper said Gasunie and Energiebeheer Nederland, both owned by the Dutch state, are considering taking a stake in the project.