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Could carbon dioxide be one of the next big commodities shipped across the seas? Enormous sums are being spent into research and development to make carbon capture and storage (CCS) a reality for shipping, not just onboard but also taking pollution from the land for burial deep down under the ocean floor. Earlier this month, Norway’s Høglund Marine Solutions, in collaboration with Germany’s HB Hunte Engineering, debuted a new tank concept for LPG and CO2 transportation, based on existing, proven technology. This new bilobe tank system more than doubles current vessel cargo capacity to transport liquefied CO2. Currently, the maximum capacity for transporting liquefied CO2 is approximately 3,600 cu m, or roughly 1,770 tonnes in dedicated CO2 tankers predominantly with specialist operators such as Larvik Shipping who have been transporting CO2 since 1988. However, as CCS chains develop, maritime transportation capacity needs to increase significantly, requiring innovation in tank design and cargo handling systems. CO2 as a commodity could well be a new cargo to transport going forward Last week, Golar LNG signed an agreement with US-based engineering and construction company Black & Veatch Corporation to collaborate in the field of floating ammonia production, carbon capture, green LNG and hydrogen - the latest in a series of famous names in shipping eyeing CO2 as a possible new cash cow. In Japan Splash reported in August Japanese shipping major Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha’s (K Line) plans to trial the world’s first marine-specific carbon capture equipment onboard one of its ships. K Line is deploying a small-scale demonstration plant for CO2 capture onboard a vessel and conducting research and development on compact facility design, in collaboration with project partners Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK). "The purpose of this demonstration plant is to capture CO2 at sea. It is not realistic to capture all of the CO2 emitted by the ship at this stage, but we will also verify compactness for practical use. We think that study of CO2 capture at sea will proceed in consideration of design of the ship, specifically the balance between cargo space and CO2 storage space," a spokesperson for K Line tells Splash Extra. The demonstration project involves converting the design of an existing CO2 capture system for onshore power plants to a marine environment. According to a Japanese study produced earlier this year on decarbonising shipping in general, onboard capture systems could reduce emissions by 85% and up to 90% depending on technological advancements. However, the authors also point out that the resulting captured CO2 would be much heavier than the fuel so extra energy would be required to propel vessels to their final destinations. Scandinavia leading the way Another pioneer in marine carbon capture is Swedish company Stena Bulk. It recently formed a partnership with the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), a voluntary initiative led by global oil and gas companies to accelerate the industry response to climate change. The team will carry out a feasibility study to evaluate the technical and economic challenges involved when capturing carbon dioxide onboard ships while at sea. "CO2 as a commodity could well be a new cargo to transport going forward,” says Erik Hånell, CEO of Stena Bulk, adding: “At this stage we are in a few discussions in different forums where this comes up. At this stage it is too early for us to have a firm opinion, since it, at least for us in Stena Bulk, is a rather new topic, but we follow it closely and will probably learn a lot more in six to 12 months’ time.” “Carbon capture will play an important role in reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, but there’s no reason it needs to be limited to stationary applications. Expanding carbon capture to long distance marine shipping could help accelerate its use, while addressing a difficult to abate sector of the transport industry," says Michael Traver, head of the transport workstream at the OGCI. The initiative features the likes of Saudi Aramco, BP and ExxonMobil as members, all of whom have been working their own carbon capture projects for years. For instance, Saudi Aramco began working on mobile carbon capture in 2010. It has since successfully demonstrated its technology breakthroughs in cars and pickups, and is now being validated for trucks. Norwegian classification society DNV GL, together with Equinor, Shell and Total, has also been working on a joint cooperation project called Northern Lights to look into seaborne CCS solutions. The project encompasses the capture of CO2 from cement production and a waste-to-energy plant in the Oslo fjord region and the shipping of liquid CO2 from these sites to an onshore terminal on the Norwegian west coast. From there, the liquefied CO2 will be transported by pipeline to a subsea storage location in the North Sea for permanent storage. Captured carbon dioxide stored onboard the vessel weighs approximately three times that of the fuel used According to Frank Ollerhead, ship transport lead in the Northern Lights project, the project is looking to design vessels as close as possible to EEDI phase 3. "The Northern Lights ships are relatively small, and the schedule is tight. For this reason we decided to use proven technology rather than rely on R&D for our solutions. Most of the technology is already there. Now we are fitting it together in a practical solution,” says Ollerhead. Ollerhead says that jump-starting the CO2 trade using ships is a high-value proposition in the Northern Lights project. "The potential for carbon-neutral cement production will drive investment decisions. With the solutions being developed in this project, shipowners should see potential new markets that will open the door to other industries. Overall the timing is good for introducing this technology,” Ollerhead reckons. Henrik Madsen, the former head of DNV GL, is now chairman of the decarbonICE project, developed in association with the Denmark-based Maritime Development Center and a host of top shipping names, that is ploughing ahead with research into marine CCS development. Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Sovcomflot, Knutsen, Ardmore, shipbuilder DSME and the mining company Vale are all onboard the project, determined to develop a groundbreaking onboard CCS solution. A recent International Energy Agency (IEA) scenario has 2.4 gigatonnes of CO2 captured and stored annually by 2040. A gigatonne is 1bn tonnes, and is often used when discussing human carbon dioxide emissions. The majority of this CO2 is expected to be captured from land-based power plants and industrial facilities. “It is very likely that most of the storage will take place offshore in old oil and gas fields, deep geological reservoirs, and probably also in soft deep sea sediments,” Madsen tells Splash Extra in an exclusive interview. “The transport of the CO2 from ports and terminals to the storage sites can introduce an important new commodity.” While the world waits for new fuels such as ammonia to become mainstream, increasingly it looks like carbon capture projects will be needed if regions such as the European Union are to meet their upcoming green targets. Madsen believes CCS can act as a bridging solution in the coming two to three decades before this fuel transition has taken place, allowing continued use of existing assets in terms of ships, propulsion systems and fuel infrastructure until the end of their economic lifetime. Together with future carbon neutral fuels, CCS can also create a pathway to carbon negative shipping, Madsen argues. Design hurdles Ship design remains a big hurdle, albeit this is changing fast as witnessed by the bilobe tank breakthrough mentioned above. Rupert Hare, CEO of marine design consultancy Houlder, reckons engine load and weight distribution are key considerations in the design and operational implications for installing CCS systems onboard vessels. "Captured carbon dioxide stored onboard the vessel weighs approximately three times that of the fuel used. The implications on the vessel’s deadweight can be reduced by locating the storage tanks in appropriate positions to reduce the ballast requirements," Hare explains. Hare points out that there’s already considerable demand for containerised liquefied CO2 for industrial purposes, meaning shipowners can access an already existent client base. Beyond this, safety and vessel stability – key concerns for mariners across the carbon capture debate – have been a central focus point within modelling recently undertaken by Houlder’s experts in collaboration with PMW Technology, a British carbon capture tech firm. Houlder worked as the marine consultant with PMW Technology in researching the feasibility, costs, infrastructure, and potential effects and benefits of using advanced carbon capture from marine engine emissions to decarbonise the shipping industry. “Removal of larger volumes of captured carbon for deepsea trades requires further consideration,” Hare concedes of this nascent marine technology. One concept Hare and his team are exploring is the adaptation of bunkering vessels, which could deliver the required fuel and remove the CO2 from the vessel’s storage tank, delivering it to the nearest carbon cluster before taking on its next fuel cargo. In the coming months shipping will see the results of many of these pioneering new projects, potentially opening up a whole new cargo supply chain.

How CO2 could be gold for shipping

Around the world pioneering projects are underway looking to ship carbon dioxide. CO2 may well be a new cargo for shipping in the years ahead

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