Geleen, NL, 31-Mar-2008
The Dutch Minister Cramer (Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment) has
today inaugurated an installation that will greatly reduce greenhouse gas
emissions at the Chemelot Industrial Park in Geleen (Netherlands). The
installation, located in one of DSM Agro’s two nitric acid plants in Geleen,
captures the by-product dinitrogen oxide (N2O). It is the largest of its kind
in the world. DSM Agro’s other nitric acid plant in Geleen and its two nitric
acid plants in IJmuiden (Netherlands) have also been equipped with dinitrogen
oxide capturing units.
As a result of these investments, greenhouse gas emissions from the four
plants in the Netherlands are being reduced by 2 million tonnes of CO2
equivalent. This is about 3% of total industrial CO2 emissions in the
Netherlands. The reduction in emissions is also equivalent to the amount of
carbon dioxide absorbed by 550 million trees, which is roughly the total
number of trees in the Netherlands. For this reason, Minister Cramer
symbolically planted a tree next to the nitric acid plant to mark the
inauguration of the dinitrogen oxide capturing unit. For the Chemelot site,
the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions amounts to over 1 million tonnes of
CO2 equivalent, which is about 20% of the site’s overall carbon dioxide
equivalent emissions. DSM’s global CO2 equivalent emissions are being cut by
about 15% and its emissions in the Netherlands by 50%.
According to Jan Zuidam, deputy chairman of the DSM Managing Board, the
investment has resulted in three winners. “The environment, the Dutch
government, which is aiming to make the Netherlands a cleaner country and
through this development is making a big step towards realizing the Kyoto
targets, and DSM.” Mr Zuidam is referring not only to DSM’s sustainability
policy but also to the fact that the environmental investments in the new
units can result in economic benefits for DSM against the background of the
European CO2 emissions trading system.
Nitric acid is an intermediate made from ammonia that DSM uses for the
production of fertilizers in Geleen and IJmuiden.
Chemelot
Chemelot is a major player in Western Europe in terms
of investments in activities in the fields of chemicals and high-performance
materials. Forming a community of businesses in this sector, Chemelot is
centrally located in Northwest Europe, has an excellent infrastructure and can
easily be reached by car and by public transport. The site has everything that
is needed to facilitate accelerated business growth, both for new investments
in research activities and for innovative start-ups and chemical
installations. Chemelot offers them feedstocks, utilities, facilities and an
innovative campus. Several businesses located at Chemelot are top players in
their fields. But Chemelot is more than the sum of its parts: it is a chemical
innovation community where people and companies share knowledge and pursue
innovation and accelerated business growth in creative cooperation. More
information: www.chemelot.com.
