Seabound Launches First-of-its-Kind Onboard Carbon Capture Project
Seabound, a UK-based marine carbon capture player, has launched what it claims to be a “first-of-its-kind” onboard carbon capture project together with the Hartmann Group, ship management company InterMaritime Group, and Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe.
As disclosed, the carbon capture system (CCS) has been fitted onto the UBC Cork, a 5,700 GT cement-carrying vessel owned by Hartmann, managed by InterMaritime, and chartered out to Heidelberg Materials. The captured carbon dioxide (CO2) is to be offloaded at the Port of Brevik, Norway, and used in Heidelberg Materials’ Brevik cement plant.
It will reportedly serve as an input in the production of carbon-captured cement, which, in turn, would enable the manufacturing of net-zero concrete. According to Seabound, this recently opened facility is the ‘first’ in the world for the cement industry.
It is worth noting that the Brevik CCS site is already operational, capturing what is estimated to be 400,000 tons of CO2 annually. Carbon dioxide transport and storage are provided by Northern Lights, the world’s first cross-border carbon dioxide storage hub beneath the North Sea.
As informed, Seabound’s CCS uses calcium looping technology to capture up to 95% of CO2 and 95% of sulfur emissions from vessel exhaust. The process utilizes calcium hydroxide (derived from calcium oxide and otherwise known as slaked lime) to absorb CO2 and convert it into limestone. The limestone is then stored onboard until the return to port.
Owing to its design, the CCS decouples carbon capture from post-processing, Seabound has said, which is anticipated to lead to lower energy requirements, quicker deployment, and slashed costs compared to conventional liquefied CO2 (LCO2) solutions.
Per the company, the containerized CCS enables installation with few ship modifications. The system is described as suitable for all vessel types.
As noted, the joint project between Seabound, InterMaritime, Hartmann, and Heidelberg is co-funded by the Eurstars partnership on Innovative SMEs, part of Horizon Europe, through the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation. The funding supports collaborative research and development projects that aim to drive innovation in a range of industries, including shipping.
Seabound has been making efforts to capture at least 100 million tons of CO2 per year by 2040. As understood, the company wrapped up its inaugural onboard carbon capture pilot with Germany’s container shipping heavyweight Hapag-Lloyd and British maritime transportation player Lamar Shipping, having purportedly captured CO2 at 80% efficiency onboard a 3,200 TEU boxship.
In February this year, it was revealed that Seabound and US-headquartered maritime emissions capture and control company STAX Engineering had launched CO2 capture trials at the Port of Los Angeles.
Onboard carbon capture is seen as a ‘key’ element of shipping’s decarbonization path. A study done by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD) showed that incorporating CO2 captured from heavy fuel oil (HVO) into concrete production provides the highest emissions reduction—up to 60%—among all utilization pathways.
The analysis also found, among other things, that replacing HFO with bio-LNG or biodiesel from used cooking oil has the potential to result in emissions savings for a vessel deploying MEA-based OCCS from 69% to 121%, respectively.
𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞?
𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝟓𝟎% 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬!