International 2-day business conference on sustainable industrial development in Delfzijl, The Netherlands.

The 2-day business conference "Delfzijl: Grounds for Sustainable Development" was organised by the UFO Foundation and took place on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 April 2004. Considering the select group of international speakers (See the program ), the more than 200 participants, the positive reactions of press and audience and the many contacts that resulted from the conference justify the conclusion that the conference has been a huge success.

Speakers focussed on the strategic importance of sustainability in their business and the significance of a sustainable industrial infrastructure for the region. These aspects were particularly related to:

• the commercial activities of companies
the market demands producers to be careful with the consumption of raw materials and thus to respect the people's own working and living environment

• The availability and specific application of raw materials
Locally available raw materials such as salt, natural gas and biomass (including agricultural products such as potatoes and cereals) serve as feedstock for the chemical industry. Ethane extracted from natural gas can serve as the source for local ethylene production. This, in combination with the already locally produced chlorine (salt electrolysis), offers great potential for a boost in the regional industrial development. The UFO Foundation strives after the distribution of industrial gases (amongst which ethylene) in a pipeline network. Coupling the industrial centra in North West Germany and Northeast Netherlands via a pipeline network would create a whealth of opportunities for the interegional industrial development.

• The living and investment environment
Several captains of industry (AKZO Nobel, Teijin Twaron, Bavaria) dwelled upon the background of their company's decision to expand or newly establish in the Northeast Netherlands. As Bavaria put it: to invest in a region where the locally available raw materials can be transformed into an international top product (malt) whilst considering the ecologically vulnerable environment yields a profit for the region, the industry and the society at large.

The conventional infrastructure
• The significance of planned interregional road, water and train connections were highlighted, including the importance of the extension of a high speed railway connection from The Netherlands into Germany.


Ideas for realising sustainable industrialisation were presented and discussed, e.g.:
• the production of pyrolitic oil from biomass and subsequent conversion into synthesis gas and green methanol
• the production of fine chemicals from agricultural products (amongst others potatoes, sugar beats)
• saving energy and preventing pollution by the centralised production of industrial gases and subsequent distribution to the different industries via a public pipeline network.