Stena Bulk provides data for CCS study
The crude oil tanker Stena Supreme was involved in the project (Source: Stena Bulk)
Gothenburg-based Stena Bulk has revealed the results of a project with the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) which assessed the potential for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology at shipboard level to help the decarbonisation process.
The tanker company provided data from a medium-range oil/chemical tanker and a Suezmax crude oil tanker that are both running on heavy fuel oil, and an LNG carrier using boil-off. Technical information about the ships was provided – such as deck space, fuel use, and the availability of heat and energy in the exhaust stream, for example. The partners also considered whether the ships could be seen as representative of the wider global fleet.
The study concluded that CCS could most easily be adopted on the LNG carrier because the vessel already had the right mix of infrastructure on board. The other two tankers presented more challenges.
Amongst other results, the study predicted that the cost of CCS in terms of upfront capex would likely prove a hurdle but technology developments could lower costs, enabling the process to contribute to shipping’s decarbonisation trajectory. In a wider context, the price of captured carbon dioxide could potentially offset some of upfront and operating costs of CCS systems in the future, the partners concluded.
