The ARRRA-cluster (Antwerp-Rotterdam-Rhine-Ruhr Area) is the industrial conglomeration based in the Netherlands and Belgium and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This is Europe’s primary industrial and chemical cluster with 2 of Europe’s busiest ports and about 40% of the petrochemical production in the European Union.
Decarbonising Europe’s industry is crucial to achieving the goal of climate neutrality by 2050. The production of basic materials such as steel, cement, lime and chemicals accounts for about 18% of European greenhouse gas emissions. A large proportion of these base materials is produced in the ARRRA-cluster.
The sources of greenhouse gas emissions in this region are strongly concentrated in a number of major firms. In Belgium and the Netherlands, 13 industrial plants account for above 70% of all industrial ETS emissions, and in Germany about 55 plants (6% of the total) account for over 65%. Since these major firms operate in several Member States at once, this concentration is also a transborder phenomenon.
Bellona thinks this industrial conglomeration has an important exemplary role in Europe and offers great opportunities to showcase the effective provision and use of interregional climate technologies and infrastructures for the decarbonisation of heavy industry.
That’s why we advocate for an environmentally robust model and governance system for CCS deployment in the context of industrial climate action within the countries covering the ARRRA-cluster. Moreover, we strive to ensure that the deployment of CO2 transport and storage infrastructure happens in a coordinated way across the borders in the region.
«Dutch CCS projects will be huge accelerators for decarbonisation infrastructure in Europe at large, on top of bringing an essential contribution to European climate goals.»
