Japanese car carrier firms prefer off-vessel carbon capture
Climeworks’ DACCS plant is likely to be very inefficient, but that hardly matters with Iceland’s geothermal grid (Source: Climeworks)
Recent investments in onshore direct air carbon capture (DACC) projects by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) and now Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) beg the question of whether land- or retrofitted ship-based onboard carbon capture (OCCS) systems will win out.
The latest deal between MOL and Climeworks will see 13,400 tonnes of atmospheric carbon dioxide extracted from the atmosphere annually, using carbon capture plants located in Iceland, where abundant geothermal heat and power makes CCS viable.
But this approach contradicts proponents of onboard carbon-capture (OCCS), who argue that higher concentrations of carbon, such as those being emitted from power plants and ships’ engines, will be needed to make CCS effective.
Edvin Endresen of Solvang told SRN recently that DACC have “such low efficiency” because of the extremely low concentration of carbon dioxide in ambient air, just 0.04%. Solvang has achieved high efficiency with its retrofitted OCCS by combining it with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), thereby increasing the concentration of the gas in the ship exhaust.
But the Solvang retrofits have radically changed the shape of its vessels, and is not practical for many ship designs. It looks as though car carrier firms are not as interested in OCCS retrofits, then, as tanker firms.
“Contributing the expansion of high-integrity carbon removal credits, powered by Climeworks’ state-of-the-art Direct Air Capture technology, allows us to take responsibility for emissions that are hard to eliminate through traditional means,” said Hisashi Umemura, director general of MOL. “This is not just an investment in carbon removal but an investment in the future of sustainable shipping.”
