Maersk Drilling is investing $1m in a California biomass company to help offset its emissions. Maersk Drilling has tied up with Clean Energy Systems to help develop a new technology called Carbon-Negative Energy. The concept builds on technology originally developed for the aerospace industry, which is now being deployed in a process that is expected to result in net-negative carbon emissions.
A full-scale deployment of the Carbon-Negative Energy concept will produce renewable fuel and power, and simultaneously remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The net negative carbon emissions can be converted into carbon credits. The agreement between Clean Energy Systems and Maersk Drilling gives Maersk Drilling an option to offset the emissions resulting from drilling for its customers or for the company itself.
The Carbon-Negative Energy concept is based on using biomass waste as fuel to produce syngas, from which renewable natural gas and hydrogen is separated for sale. The resulting hydrogen-depleted syngas will be used to produce electricity with full capture of associated CO2 emissions. By using fuel that consumes CO2 over its lifetime, combined with safe and permanent CO2 storage, the process results in net-negative emissions, effectively removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
“By investing in Clean Energy Systems’ concept, we are helping to bring alive a new technology which can remove CO2 from the atmosphere. We believe the world needs a broad portfolio of technologies and solutions to meet the challenge posed by climate change, and by engaging in this project, we support the development of carbon capture and storage in a way that could allow us to progress towards carbon-neutral drilling,” said Maersk Drilling COO Morten Kelstrup.
