Annual Report 2006

ustainable
ort
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Being a major port also entails great responsibility in the areas of environmental
protection and sustainable entrepreneurship. In addition to intensively using the
available space (see page 24) the Port of Amsterdam also plays a leading role in
sustainable projects and initiatives. For example, the Port of Amsterdam took
the lead in setting up Ecoports – a joint project involving Europe’s nine biggest
ports. These ports exchange and jointly develop practical solutions for environmental
problems. In 2006, the Port of Amsterdam also began developing an
environmental policy plan, which brings together all projects and initiatives and
will reach completion in 2007. Furthermore, a first move toward the production
of renewable energy could be seen in the form of the Greenmills plant in the
Hornhaven.
Encouraging the use of renewables
By 2020, all EU member states must draw one fifth of their energy
needs from renewable energy sources. The Port of Amsterdam is
making a contribution to this effort.
In 2006, agreement was reached with Greenmills, which will build a plant
at a 9-hectare site for the production of bio-diesel, bio-gas, bio-ethanol,
compost and renewable electricity from organic waste flows, such as
oils, fats, as well as garden and vegetable waste. The Amerikahaven
will be home to the Netherlands’ first bio-ethanol plant. In 2006,
Harvest Energy decided to build a facility on a 17.5-hectare site for
the production of renewable gasoline (petrol) from agricultural
products.
In the Port of Amsterdam, the country’s second-biggest wind farm is
being constructed. In the first phase at the end of December 2006, five
new wind turbines were installed. The existing smaller wind turbines
were moved to other parts of the port. The five new ones produce
the first 37 megawatts of a total planned capacity of 64 megawatts
to be realized in 2007. That is enough green electricity for 40,000
households.
In the past, the Port of Amsterdam brought together companies with
a surplus of energy and nearby firms requiring energy. A very obvious
example of this is the Amsterdam Waste and Energy Company (AEB),
which combines waste disposal with energy production. At the end
of 2006, the City of Amsterdam and the AEB entered into a contract
for the supply of waste-generated electricity for all street lighting, trams,
subway trains and city-run offices in Amsterdam as of the beginning
of 2007