Netherlands to invest EUR 90m into geothermal heating efforts
Early winter morning at a canal in Groningen, Netherlands (source: flickr/ Bert Kaufmann, creative commons)
Alexander Richter
20 Mar 2018
As part of a new funding program of EUR 300m for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the Netherlands, the government has earmarked EUR 90 million ($110 million) for a geothermal heating project in Groningen.
In a release, the government of the Netherlands has announced that it will invest EUR300 million ($370 million) in a series of measures aimed at reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Netherlands. Projects will involve disconnecting existing residential neighbourhoods from the natural gas grid, using geothermal heat and reducing carbon emissions in agriculture and industry. The government is taking these CO2 reduction measures in anticipation of a new national climate and energy agreement.
The government will invest EUR300 million a year through 2030 in measures to help achieve the goal of 49% lower carbon emissions in the Netherlands by 2030. The cabinet has now decided on the investments to be made in 2018. As of next year, the budget will be invested in implementing measures set out in the national climate and energy agreement.
This year the government is investing EUR90 million ($110 million) to launch a programme that will disconnect homes in existing neighbourhoods from the natural gas grid, starting in Groningen. Lessons learned there will be used in other projects, so that 30,000 to 50,000 homes will be disconnected from the grid each year from 2021 onwards.
The government is also setting aside more than EUR30 million for innovations that will help reduce carbon emissions from glasshouse horticulture and livestock farming. A budget will also be available for accelerating CO2 reductions in industry.
An investment of EUR15 million in the transport sector will go towards introducing hydrogen fuel-cell buses, lorries and vans and building seven hydrogen filling stations in 2018. Money will also be earmarked for trials with climate-neutral, circular public procurement. A total of EUR12 million will go towards the circular economy.
Source: Government of the Netherlands
