Innovation starts by looking at the world with fresh eyes. And a visit from a group of thirteen Swedes eager to find out how the Rotterdam Region is tackling the environment and climate problem can help you do exactly that – particularly if they come from a leading region in residual heat utilization (for district heating), waste co-fermentation and biogas usage.

I had organized this two-day visit of entrepreneurs, civil servants and scientists to Rotterdam together with Leo Baas of the Erasmus University. Ten years ago, his little book entitled “Industrial ecosystems – towards sustainable chains and sustainable business estates” had been an important source of inspiration for our Agroparks concept. Later we collaborated in the realization of the Happy Shrimp Farm, which uses residual heat from the German energy company E.on. During our visit to E.on, much was made of the underground storage of CO2 and the scope it created for building new coal-fired power plants. The Swedish delegation naturally remained courteous towards our hosts, but privately they placed big question marks over this policy. The plans for a large-scale heating network in the Rotterdam Region (e.g. to provide heating to greenhouse producers) were received more favourably. Their greatest enthusiasm, however, was reserved for OCAP, which involves transporting CO2 from Shell Pernis to greenhouses via an existing pipeline between Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Trust those crafty Dutchmen (Shell in this case) to make a profit out of waste.

OCAP unveiled the plans for a CO2 network in the Netherlands’ industrial heart.

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Deltalinqs, the business platform in the Port of Rotterdam, provided an intriguing glimpse into the delicate task of persuading multinationals, many of whom are headquartered in other countries, to take environmental measures….without compromising Rotterdam’s credentials as a prime business location. What particularly appealed to the Swedes was the Dutch approach to policy-making: the inclusive consultation of all stakeholders, with all its advantages and disadvantages. Rotterdam’s transformation from a fossil-fuelled port into a Bioport was also found to be a matter of interest. Our final port of call was the greenhouse producer Van de Bosch, which has become the first company in the Netherlands to use the earth’s heat as an energy source. In so doing, they have tapped into a virtually inexhaustible supply of energy, and the investment can be recouped within 5 years. That’s something else to be proud of.

Greenhouse producer Rik van de Bosch (right) explains how earth heat works.

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Standing on the edge of the First “Maasvlakte”, where the dredging vessels were industriously spraying sand to prepare the site for the Second “Maasvlakte, the conversation almost inevitably turned to the typically Dutch belief in a makable world. That belief is much stronger here than in Sweden, said Prof. Mats Eklund, the delegation leader whom I met two years ago in Toronto. “God created the earth, the Dutch created the Netherlands.” I can’t think of a greater compliment.