Today, the Netherlands officially began constructing a 1,200km-long hydrogen pipeline — amid a continent-wide push to wean Europe off natural gas. The first section of the pipeline will run from the Maasvlakte — a massive man-made extension of the Europoort in Rotterdam (Europe’s largest port) — some 30 kilometres inland to a gas refinery in Pernis, run by petrochemical giant Shell. This phase is scheduled to open in 2025 at a cost of €100mn.  The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by the country’s King Willem-Alexander, the minister for climate and energy policy, Rob Jetten, and Han Fennema, CEO of state-run energy…

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