The European Commission has approved Dutch plans to provide €706,000 (£609,312) of public support for a carbon capture technology project.

The funding is being provided to De Meerlanden Holding for the installation of the technology in its biomass digester located in Rijsenhout in the province of Noord-Holland.

The capture carbon will then be fed into a pipeline network owned by OCAP CO2 and transported to greenhouses situated in the horticultural area of PrimA4a in the Greenport of Aalsmeer.

The project is expected to help reduce 2.4 kilotons of carbon emissions a year.

The Commission said: “Currently, the greenhouses in the horticultural PrimA4A area produce their own CO2 using heating systems such as cogeneration systems or gas fired boilers. In summer, when heating is not needed, the greenhouses nevertheless use their heating systems for the sole purpose of CO2 generation. Thanks to this measure, these greenhouses will be able to use excess waste CO2 instead.

“This will benefit the environment by reducing the use of primary energy sources that produce CO2, with an annual energy saving of 65,000 m3 of natural gas, as well as by disposing of the waste CO2 from Meerlanden.”

It added the measure will contribute to the EU’s environmental and climate goals without distorting competition.