Four leading industrial clusters in the Netherlands, Belgium and
the U.S. today announced they are working together with the World
Economic Forum to reduce their carbon emissions faster through the
“Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero” initiative.
The World Economic Forum is collaborating with Accenture (NYSE:
ACN) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) on this
initiative.
Launched at COP26 November 2021, the initiative aims to
accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industrial sectors,
while maximizing job creation and economic competitiveness. The
approach focuses on building cross-industry and cross-cluster
partnerships to better implement low-carbon technologies — as in
the case of the regionally developed Basque Hydrogen Corridor — and
on accessing public funding frameworks and blended-finance options
for clusters’ decarbonization projects.
Under this initiative, the World Economic Forum, working closely
with Accenture and EPRI as knowledge partners, connects private and
public stakeholders to assess how to meet individual and collective
decarbonization goals, fosters new enabling policies and provides
guidance and support for local community engagement.
Industrial clusters are geographic regions where industrial
companies are concentrated, making them an attractive target for
impactful emissions reduction strategies. Since industrial assets
are located in close proximity to each other, sharing of
infrastructure (such as CO2 and hydrogen pipelines or renewable
energy assets), financial and operational risks, and natural and
human resources becomes possible. This also provides opportunities
to deploy and scale new green technologies, such as hydrogen and
the capture, utilization, and storage of carbon for industrial
applications, enabling a systemic approach to emissions
reduction.
The clusters joining the initiative are:
- Brightlands Circular Space, together with Brightlands
Chemelot Campus, Chemelot and the Chemelot Circular Hub in Geleen,
Netherlands It will help accelerate the energy transition and
circular economy.
- H2Houston Hub, formed through the Center for Houston’s
Future and encompassing more than 100 organizations and companies.
It will leverage the Houston area’s position as the U.S.’s largest
hydrogen producer and consumer, and use innovation and scale to
reduce the cost of clean hydrogen and emissions.
- Ohio Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance, with approximately 100
corporate, governmental and community organization members, will
lead the region’s campaign to establish a clean hydrogen hub in the
state of Ohio and the Ohio River Valley.
- Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Europe's second-largest port. It
will drive the circular economy and energy transition.
These four large industrial emissions centers, involving oil and
gas extraction and processing, shipping, heavy-duty transportation,
chemicals and other sectors, currently account for CO2 emissions of
296 million metric tonnes per year – greater than the annual
emissions of Poland. They employ more than 470,000 people and
represent an annual gross domestic product (GDP) contribution of
$135 billion.
“Sharing infrastructure, maximizing synergies and expanding use
of circularity principles across industries will be critical in
reducing emissions, while maintaining industrial competitiveness
and creating opportunities for employment in these industrial
heartlands,” said Melissa Stark, a managing director and Global
Lead for Renewables and Energy Transition Services, Accenture. “We
are keen to help rapidly expand this program and urge industrial
clusters in those regions committed to net zero to join us.
Accenture brings its global footprint and experience in digital,
sustainability and the energy transition to this project, working
closely with the World Economic Forum and EPRI to deploy a
cross-technology approach anchored on innovation, partnership,
policy, and financing strategies.”
The four new clusters join four others in the U.K. (Zero Carbon
Humber and Hynet North West), Australia (Kwinana Industries
Council), and Spain (Basque Net-Zero Industrial Supercluster),
which were part of the initial launch of the initiative. Based on
metrics provided by each cluster, all eight clusters could
potentially save more than 334 million tonnes of CO2 – more than
the equivalent annual emissions output of France. They could also
create and protect 1.1 million jobs and contribute $182 billion to
regional GDP.
"The Ohio Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance seeks to locate a clean
hydrogen hub in the state of Ohio and the Ohio River Valley,
leading to the eventual decarbonization of much of the
transportation, electricity, industrial and heating sectors,” said
Kirt Conrad, Co-Founder, Ohio Clean Hydrogen Alliance and Chief
Executive Officer, Stark Area Regional Transit Authority.
“Investment into a clean hydrogen hub in Ohio will help create
massive economic, environmental and health benefits for the state
and its citizens."
“With our focus on becoming the premier circular ecosystem in
Europe, it is of upmost importance that we foster competitive
collaboration between the companies in our cluster as well as with
other global clusters,” said Lia Voermans, Director, Brightlands
Circular Space. “We believe that this initiative provides a gateway
to access the best practices and processes supporting industrial
decarbonization.”
The new clusters are already actively advancing their
decarbonization journey. For instance, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges
is starting to convert hydrogen into sustainable raw materials and
fuel for the port’s chemical sector, whereas the Ohio Clean
Hydrogen Hub Alliance has developed hydrogen fuel cell buses which
tour around the U.S., educating transit authorities on the
potential and viability of clean transportation. However, to
achieve net-zero emissions, these efforts must be scaled up. Often,
financial mechanisms, rather than technology, are the main
roadblock, and policy frameworks to support valuable future
technologies are lacking. As value chains are transformed, the
creation of new partnerships will be key.
“The Houston region has the talent, expertise and infrastructure
needed to lead the global energy transition to a low-carbon world,”
said Brett Perlman, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for
Houston’s Future. “Clean hydrogen, alongside carbon capture, use,
and storage are among the key technology areas where Houston is set
up to succeed and can be an example to other leading energy
economies around the world.”
“The Port of Antwerp-Bruges hosts Europe’s largest chemical
cluster and supports the European Green Deal to become climate
neutral by 2050,” said Jacques Vandermeiren, Chief Executive
Officer, Port of Antwerp. “To reach this goal we will all have to
work together with respect for individual company needs, industry
characteristics and timing. The ‘Transitioning Industrial Clusters
towards Net Zero’ initiative, is a means to inspire and incentivize
companies to share best practices in our common pursuit of staying
well below 2°C.”
In addition to the eight clusters currently involved in the
initiative, more than a dozen in the U.S., Europe, and the
Asia-Pacific region are also in the process of joining. The aim is
to build a community of 100 global industrial clusters to
accelerate industrial decarbonization. To learn more or to
participate in the cluster initiative, visit
https://initiatives.weforum.org/transitioning-industrial-clusters/home.
About Accenture
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capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched
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we offer Strategy and Consulting, Technology and Operations
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Our 699,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human
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embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for
our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit
us at accenture.com.
About EPRI
Founded in 1972, EPRI is the world's preeminent independent,
non-profit energy research and development organization, with
offices around the world. EPRI's trusted experts collaborate with
more than 450 companies in 45 countries, driving innovation to
ensure the public has clean, safe, reliable, affordable, and
equitable access to electricity across the globe. Together, we are
shaping the future of energy.
About World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of
the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private
Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business and
other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry
agendas. (www.weforum.org).
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220524005773/en/
Matthew Corser Accenture +44 755 784 9009
matthew.corser@accenture.com Rachel Gantz EPRI +1 202-293-7517
rgantz@epri.com Sahil Raina World Economic Forum +41 79 55966273
sahil.raina@weforum.org
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