Collaboration to advance ship-based carbon capture

AN international collaboration has been granted €3.4m (US$3.7m) in EU funding to accelerate the uptake of ship-based carbon capture.

The project, known as EverLoNG, will be led by TNO and has 16 project partners across Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and the US.

It aims to demonstrate ship-based carbon capture (SBCC) on board two LNG-fuelled ships owned and operated by TotalEnergies and Heerema Marine Contractors. The partners will also conduct studies to support the development of full-chain carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) networks, including linking SBCC with transport networks and storage sites. The consortium intends for these studies to lower the costs associated with the technology as well as identify and solve any technical barriers. The target is for SBCC to be a cost-competitive decarbonisation option by 2025.  SBCC will also be evaluated to see how it can fit within existing regulatory frameworks for shipping.

Marco Linders, EverLoNG Project Coordinator, said: “Our demonstration campaigns will optimise SBCC technology and we will also consider how best to integrate it into existing ship and port infrastructure. We’ll also carry out detailed life cycle assessments and techno-economic analysis, which will be essential information for maritime sector companies. International collaboration is a big part of EverLoNG and our consortium is fully committed to supporting the shipping industry’s decarbonisation goals.”

Philip Llewellyn, CCUS Program Manager at TotalEnergies, said: “TotalEnergies is pleased to be part of the EverLoNG project, which aims to demonstrate the feasibility of CO2 capture on board ships. As part of our climate ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, together with society, the decarbonisation of our maritime activity is an important challenge. Ship-based carbon capture is a promising short-term solution as it could be installed on the current fleet of ships. In addition, the potential application of such a technology onboard future CO2 carriers, as in the Northern Lights project, in which TotalEnergies is a partner, could bring high potential synergies.”