2.  The largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands.  Rotterdam’s entire port and industrial complex covers 10,500 hectares and stretches out 40 kilometers in length; from the city to the Maasvlakte along the Nieuwe Waterweg canal.  The Rotterdam port is considered to be a strategically important distribution point in Europe as it is surrounded by Europe's highly-populated and industrialized centres - the German Ruhr district, Paris and London.

3.  All kinds of different cargo (such as oil, ores and coal, or fruit and dry bulk, roll-on/roll-off and containers) are handled by specialized companies. Whenever possible, these companies are clustered. For this reason, Rotterdam can be typified as a collection of specialized ports.

4.  The Port of Rotterdam was considered the first one in cargo throughput among European ports

5.  The Port of Rotterdam was considered the eightieth in cargo throughput among world ports

6.  From 2011 to 2013, Rotterdam has been considered the number one in the top 20 European container ports, handling 11,621 million Twenty- Feet Equivalent Units in 2013.  However, Rotterdam presented a 2.16% decrease of TEUs from 2011 to 2013.

7.  From 2011 to 2013, Rotterdam has been considered the eleventh in top 20 World container ports.

8. MARITIME SERVICES  Shipbuilding and repair  Mooring and unmooring of sea-going vessels  Offshore:  Maintenance, repairs and conversions of offshore units and equipment;  Removal or replacement of thrusters;  Loading and unloading heavy cargo (such as platforms) onto and from semisubmersible vessels;  Underwater inspections,  Testing cranes and hoisting equipment.  Bunkering  Shipchandlery PORT SERVICES  Maintenance and cleaning  Warehousing  Marine equipment supply (for sale or rental)  Rail equipment services

9. 10 Sheer Leg Cranes12 Container Cranes

10. 22 Ship-to-shore Bulk Cranes25 Floating Cranes

11. 103 Container Gantry Cranes162 multi-purpose Cranes

12. 3 Shipyards5 Graving

13. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSUMED  The port of Rotterdam is a complex system formed by many companies and facilities that support it. For this reason, the port operation is an important issue and it depends on the consumption of natural resources to continue operating. Water Electricity Fuel Oil Natural Gas LNG Coal Biomass

14. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS  Port-related activities are heavily dependent on energy  These different types of processes consume vast amounts of mostly fossil fuels and thereby result in the emission of greenhouse gasses.  The emissions of manoeuvring and berthing (e.g. auxiliary engine use & fuel heating) are relatively limited compared to industrial emissions in the Port area.  If all transport related emissions (sailing ships and hinterland distribution) would be included, the share of transport would be higher.  The proposed Maasvlakte 2 plan would result in a 5% to 8% increase of the total CO2 emission in the Netherlands in 2020.

15. AIR POLLUTANT EMISSIONS  T he application of fossil fuels in transport and industrial processes leads to the emission of air pollutant emissions.  Air pollution can result in serious consequences for nature and even for the health of people living or working in these areas.  The industry is the main source of air pollutants, except for fine particles.  The port of Rotterdam is subject to EU regulations on air quality.

16.  The levels of NO2 and PM10 are measured at various urban locations throughout the port area  The data show that air quality does not meet the standards set by EU  These stations are all located in the vicinity of residential areas.  EU air quality standards cannot be met everywhere in the Rijnmond area with Maasvlakte 2 in operation.  The influence on local air quality depends on the specific activities taking place in a port. Liquid bulk (e.g. chemicals) may have bigger emissions of Volatile organic compounds, whereas dry bulk transhipment may cause particle emissions.

17. WASTE AND WATER POLLUTION  To facilitate and promote safe and environmental friendly disposing of waste products from ships, waste reception facilities have been installed by the PoRA.  It is obligatory for ships to discard their waste products at the port designated waste reception facilities.  Ships are obliged to pay a fee for waste disposal whether they do or do not make use of the waste reception facilities, the height of this fee is dependent on the engine size.

18. ROTTERDAM CLIMATE INITIATIVE  The port is involved in the Rotterdam Climate Initiative.  Within this initiative, a number of important actors joined together to try to limit the CO2 emissions in the Rotterdam area, including those from port and port-related activities in co-operation.  The Rotterdam Climate Initiative was founded by the PoRA, the municipality of Rotterdam, the environmental protection agency of the Rijnmond area (DCMR) and Deltalinqs (an ndustry platform).  The reduction goal set by this foundation for 2025 is a 50% reduction compared to the CO2 emission level in 1990.  They want to develop the port to become:  The energy port for low-CO2 energy sources and products for Northwest Europe.  A hub for carbon capturing transport and storage (CCS).  The most energy efficient port and industrial cluster in the world.  Rotterdam is one of the 55 ports that committed itself to the World Port Climate Initiative, which has the mission to:  Raise awareness in the port and maritime community of the need for action.  Initiate studies, strategies and actions to reduce GHG emissions and improve air quality.  Provide a platform for the maritime port sector for the exchange of information thereon.  Make available information on the effects of climate change on the maritime port environment and measures for its mitigation.

19. CO2 SEQUESTRATION  Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is one of the main measures that are developed to reduce the emissions of CO2 in the port area.  At the Maasvlakte, a power plant will be equipped with an experimental carbon capture and storage facility. The facility will be able to capture a small portion of the CO2 emissions from the power plant.

20. PREVENTING EMISSIONS OF AIR POLLUTANTS  The port pays special attention on how to limit the impact Maasvlakte 2 on air quality that is requested by EU.  Technical measures to decrease the emission of transshipment include closed transshipment, or the use of suction filters.  To prevent dust emissions from the storage of dry bulk outdoors (ore, coal), surfaces are kept wet or are covered under a crust of cellulose or latex materials.  A monitoring network has been created around the major dry bulk terminals. The digital network provides these organizations with information on when dust is emitted.  Such a measure to improve air quality in the port is the installation of shore- side electricity in the port.  When barges switch from their generators to the grid electricity, a reduction in air polluting emissions is achieved.

21. BIOENERGY  The generation of clean electricity by biomass consists in the cofiring of biomass as wood pallets in coal- power plants.  Rotterdam port has already begun to process some biomass to generate energy or for refining.  In 2020, the port wants to handle 8-10 million tons of biomass both for use in the port, transshipment and further transport to hinterland and Northwest Europe.

22. MORE EFFICIENT SHIPPING  In 2012, less fuel was supplied to shipping in the port of Rotterdam. Bunker volume fell from 12.2 to 10.9 million tons.  This reduce is due to a simple but too important insight. Container vessels account for almost half of bunkers sold and ¼ of the total quantity of fuel oil bunkered.  For this reason, larger and fully-laden vessels travel considerably more slowly and container shipping sails more efficiently nowadays.  A 10% reduction in service speed saves 20% fuel and 30% reduction almost halves fuel consumption.

23. WIND AND SOLAR POWER  The port of Rotterdam has an installed capacity for wind turbines of 150 MW and has the goal to have 300 MW installed in 2020.  New turbines will be placed at seven locations, including the Maasvlakte 2 area.  The 400 hectares of roof space and temporary available areas in the port - around 7,000 football fields - offer more than enough opportunity for solar energy.

24.  Environmental Policy Committee. Working Party on National Environmental Policies/Working Group on Transport. Environmental Impacts of International Shipping: A case Study of The Port of Rotterdam. February 01, 2010  Port of Rotterdam. Retrieved October 10, 2014, from http://www.portofrotterdam.com/EN/Pages/default.aspx