The RH2INE-interview: 'CANOPY' - Rewarding the contribution to cleaner air
At a recent RH2INE meeting in Brussels, Johan Gille (program manager inland shipping from the Port of Rotterdam) presented an innovative concept called ‘CANOPY’. Gille and his colleague Wouter Vuijk developed the concept, which stands for ‘Compensation for Avoided NOx and Particulate Matter’. The idea aims to make zero-emission shipping more commercially attractive by capturing the societal and environmental value of reduced air pollution.
While much of the attention in recent years has focused on CO₂ reduction, CANOPY highlights another urgent challenge: improving local air quality by cutting NOx and particulate matter emissions from inland vessels. The approach could help bridge the financial gap between conventional and zero-emission operations, while also supporting regional and municipal goals for cleaner air and sustainable development along waterways.
In this interview, we talk with Johan Gille about the motivation behind the concept, how it might work in practice, and the next steps towards turning CANOPY into a working system that benefits both business and the environment.
What motivated the Port of Rotterdam to explore the CANOPY concept?
“There are a few key drivers behind this idea. First, zero-emission shipping is still too expensive compared to fossil fuel propulsion systems, so we need mechanisms to make it more cost-efficient. At the same time, the societal benefits - like cleaner air - aren’t financially rewarded.
We see a lot of focus on CO₂ through policy initiatives such as emission trading and carbon insetting schemes, but in the Netherlands there’s also a strong need to cut NOx emissions, which affect local air quality and nature and which hampers construction project permits. The idea is to connect this national NOx challenge with the need to make zero-emission operations pay off. That’s how it got started; capturing the value of avoided NOx, just like it is done for CO₂.
Because NOx has rather local than global impacts, it makes sense to engage local and regional governments early on. And since they happen to be around the table at RH2INE, it was the right place to pitch the concept.”
Could you explain what the CANOPY concept entails?
“We are still at a very early stage of initiating an idea. We need to keep discussing with the partners and other stakeholders to see how it could actually work in practice.
The core idea is that reducing NOx emissions has real value and the question is how to capture that value. We’ve done some initial calculations (see below) showing the benefit of a ship passing with lower emissions for the surrounding area. The next step is to make it measurable and verifiable. In practice, it would make sense that the shipowner proves the zero-emission navigation - even with a hybrid ship. And the provinces and/or municipalities would pay a small amount to compensate the shipowner for the avoided emissions in their geographical area. It should be kept simple and transparent though, through an organization or by making use of existing schemes, like the Green Award for example.
It’s still early days - there’s no existing model for this yet. Unlike CO2, this is new, I think. The regional governments in Germany also have a NOx reduction objective, so we might be able to create a workable scheme. We could test it on specific corridors, like Rotterdam - Duisburg or Rotterdam - Antwerp, and see if it can materialize.”
The example illustrates that the total compensation amount can be quite substantial. Could you elaborate on this example and the underlying assumptions?
“We based our example on data from CE Delft, which also provides the European Commission’s with estimates for the societal cost of emissions like CO₂ and NOx. It’s a solid starting point, even if you can debate whether the value should be higher or lower.
Using those assumptions, we estimated what the avoided NOx emissions could be worth for a trip between Rotterdam and Duisburg using a standard 110m ship. For simplicity, we assumed the emissions - and therefore the benefits - are evenly spread along the route. That way, you can roughly estimate how much each municipality along the waterway would benefit from the reduced NOx.
The calculation also drew on the EICB (The Expertise and Innovation Centre Barging) label system, which provides indicative emission levels for typical vessel types. In this case, we used a standard dry cargo barge of about 110 meters with a C4 label, representing a common vessel on that route. Naturally, emissions vary depending on ship size, engine type, and age. But it gives a clear basis for discussion. We still need to think about whether it can promote zero emission navigation on longer distances, whether there should be a financial cap for the authorities, etc.”
What are the next steps for developing CANOPY into a fully operational system?
“We’ve already shared the idea with the municipal government of Rotterdam to get their feedback. I have also presented the concept to the Dutch working group on Clean Energy Hubs, where Dutch provinces collaborate on cleaner transport and energy solutions - including inland shipping. The goal is to collect input from different authorities and provinces and see how we can move to the next phase together.
Ideally, early next year, at a next RH2INE meeting, we’d like to present some first results and concrete next steps. A logical follow-up could be to launch a pilot project - for instance, along the Rotterdam-Antwerp corridor - involving a few ship operators and local governments along the route. That would let us test the concept in practice, see how the compensation mechanism could work, identify challenges, and then refine and scale it from there.
Ultimately, our aim is twofold. First, to make zero-emission shipping more attractive for those investing in vessels with new energy carriers. And second, to ensure that beyond reducing climate emissions, we also make a strong contribution to local air quality improvements. Programs like RH2INE and others are increasingly recognizing that air quality, alongside European and global climate goals, is becoming a key priority.”
Want to collaborate?
Collaboration will be essential to make this concept a success. If you or your organization are interested in contributing ideas, sharing data, or helping to shape the concept or pilot, we’d welcome your input.
Contact: j.gille@portofrotterdam.com or hw.vuijk@portofrotterdam.com
