This hub addresses one of the big open question within Deep Decarbonization of the Energy System, namely the decarbonization of Industry. The energy transition is well underway and gathering pace as far as electric renewables and electrification are concerned. However, it is still unclear how industry will deal with the carbon it needs for fuel and feedstock, when total CO2 (and other GHG) emissions must be brought down to zero around mid-century to meet the Paris target. It will even be necessary for Industry to deliver negative emissions, to offset unavoidable emissions in other sectors. How to achieve this transformation in the decades to come is the challenge that this Hub takes on.
It does so on the understanding that technical options abound, but are in aggregate insufficient or unattractive, warranting the study of new options. Within the hub programme we focus on two promising options: biofuels options with negative emissions, and the use of the subsurface to achieve negative emissions.
Against the backdrop of this evolving landscape of existing and new technical options, society has to create the conditions under which the required investment decisions can be made now. This involves creating new infrastructure, regulatory frameworks and governance structures that reduce the long-term non-technical risk that now prevents industry to invest.
This hub brings together a broad group of researchers with an equally broad group from industry, government and civil society. We aim to develop a shared understanding and a shared narrative of how to deliver this the energy transition in industry. The focus will be on the Netherlands. This regional specificity is crucial to answer the central question of industry transformation. But as one small, open and industrialized economy, the results will have relevance for industry transitions globally. "Towards Industry with Negative Emissions"