Watching tip: the resource transition explained in 6 minutes
  • Innovate

Watching tip: the resource transition explained in 6 minutes

Biomass as an alternative to fossil resources. Maybe you have heard about it, maybe you are an expert, maybe you are an advocate, maybe you see objections. The level of knowledge and especially opinions about biomass are divided. Still, vegetable raw materials are indispensable for a sustainable industry, Industry Table North Netherlands believes.

'Only by also using biomass will we get a circular economy'

Many CO2 emissions are caused by (manufacturing) industry. A sector we all have to deal with without knowing it, says Frans Alting, director of Samenwerkende Bedrijven Eemsdelta (SBE). 'Industry keeps our society running. From the T-shirt you wear to the medication you take: every day you have to deal with industry. But because everything takes place behind closed fences, the industry is difficult to understand.'

Anyone who sees smoke from smokestacks or drives past industrial sites may wonder if the factories wouldn't be better off closed. Alting understands that reasoning. 'The industrial sector is under a magnifying glass. And it's true that we use a lot of raw materials and energy, but you get a lot in return. So instead of closing down, we should switch to other and clean production processes. Because, after all, society cannot exist without industry, and vice versa.'

So there is a lot to do and explain. Industrietafel Noord-Nederland takes this extremely seriously: with more than thirty companies they have made a plan to produce sustainably. With a combination of biomass, recycling, hydrogen, reuse of CO2 and renewable energy, production can be fully circular and therefore sustainable. Also summarized as the energy and raw materials transition.

That sounds complicated, and sometimes it is, but the Industry Table has it all figured out. The opportunities are there for the taking and the Northern Netherlands is ready. All the findings have been worked out in a report and in a clear explainer video. This was necessary to explain biomass in an accessible way, Alting explains. 'There are many misconceptions about biomass. And exactly how it works is not clear to everyone. This video explains step by step what biomass is and how you can use it in a sustainable way.

Want to understand how biomass can make industry more sustainable? After six minutes, you'll know exactly how! This video is suitable for anyone 12 years old and up, so it is also suitable for use in education.