Econopolis study shows: Ghent port becomes climate neutral and that's good business

Lots of value, but also lots of emissions

The Ghent part of North Sea Port has 525 companies providing 4.5 billion euros in direct added value. The port provides a total employment of 65,145 full-time employees (FTE) and contributes 3.5% to Flanders' GDP. By emissions, the numbers are also large, unfortunately. Ghent port emits a total of 14 million tons of CO2. Biggest emitters in the port: steel producer ArcelorMittal (9 million tons), power plants Electrabel Rodenhuize (0.15 million tons) and Luminus (0.680 million tons) and paper factory Stora Enso (0.63 million tons). In terms of employment, Volvo provides more than 10,000 jobs in the region and Arcelor has some 5,000 employees there.

Circularity is a good medicine to hedge the economy against dependence on increasingly scarce and expensive raw materials.

Especially circularity gets attention

Besides the well-known transformation paths for industry such as CCUS (carbon capture), electrification and hydrogen production, the Econopolis study provides particularly valuable insights in the area of circularity. The circular economy is still too often seen as a parallel economy developing alongside the mainstream, linear economy. Econopolis sees it differently and proposes to upend the entire ecosystem. Indeed, the study sees it succeeding and notes that it is creating new economic opportunities.

How so? Circularity is a good medicine to hedge the economy against dependence on increasingly scarce and expensive resources. It is also a way to discover more robust supply chains and new opportunities. With a smaller need for materials and energy, the whole climate transition also simply becomes more feasible. An important argument is that the circular economy has a major impact on CO2 emissions: more than half of total greenhouse gas emissions are related to materials consumption. 

Econopolis developed the installation of a circular economy for North Sea Port very thoroughly: with the circular assets (presence of know-how and R&D expertise, large number of customers in Flanders and a large number of possible residual flows in the industrialized region), with the identification of concrete sites that can be reserved for circular activities and with the links between different providers. The port of Ghent would in the future only attract so-called "missing link companies," these are companies whose activities fit into the chain: for example, by being able to pass on certain materials or raw materials or by exchanging residual flows. 

Also interesting is the realism with which Econopolis writes. Very many energy sources (think hydrogen, ammonia or methanol) will be imported in the future. There is also a real chance that ammonia production, for example, will disappear to places with much more solar power. Still, Econopolis sees opportunities for Ghent port to export CO2 and import green molecules (and keep industry here). It confirms the picture that tomorrow's industry will look completely different.

A climate-neutral future will benefit North Sea Port a lot. Hopefully this study will inspire other port clusters - and our entire industry.

Climate transition as an economic success story

The study starts from the fact that basic industry is and will remain the economic backbone of our society. BBL supports this hypothesis. If industry leaves here, it will lead to a loss of jobs and prosperity. Therefore, we need to work on a transparent and ambitious industrial transition policy that will give industry the right framework to get started. As a strategic positioning, Econopolis proposes to shift the focus of the port, which is traditionally focused on the sea (maritime transport), to the land, because there you can build a whole new industrial ecosystem with the presence of logistics chains.

All in all, according to Econopolis, the North Sea Port can become a region with a green base industry. That will double the number of jobs (from 65,000 to 117,000 FTEs). The total added value would also increase by a great deal (from 8.5 to 17 billion euros). But the port must not shy away from challenges: more than ever, companies will have to cooperate (see Smart Delta Resources, among others), and the innovation potential must also be high (which is possible thanks to the presence of the UGent and a lot of applied research).

Econopolis concludes that a mindshift is needed to make North Sea Port future-proof. This mindshift was already evident in the Strategic Plan (Connect 2025). There we read: "a port region should in future no longer communicate in "tons" but in reduction of CO2 and growth of added value". 

North Sea Port now clearly knows which direction to choose. A climate-neutral future will do them no harm. The exercise Econopolis made here should be done for our entire industry - and other port clusters in particular. Because those who make adjustments too late risk missing the boat (and with it a whole host of economic opportunities).

This post "Studie Econopolis toont: Gentse haven wordt klimaatneutraal en doet daar gouden zaak mee" first appeared on bondbeterleefmilieu.be - Tycho Van Hauwaert (February 2, 2022).