Lomar Shipping’s venture capital operation lomarlabs is backing a US start-up that will capture carbon and turn it into salt.
The London Greek shipowner said it has struck a collaboration agreement with Calcarea to develop the technology for vessels.
The process mimics the earth’s natural response to excess CO2 emissions from volcanoes, London-based lomarlabs said.
It removes the need for ships to store carbon and then discharge it in port.
Calcarea was founded at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California.
The company has drawn on decades of oceanographic research and marine engineering.
“The collaboration with lomarlabs provides the benefit of direct access to leading climate-conscious shipowner Lomar and will now accelerate the commercialisation and deployment of Calcarea’s system within the industry,” the two sides said.
Calcarea says its system captures CO2 from ship exhausts, converting it into stable, benign bicarbonate ions for release into the ocean.
Stylianos Papageorgiou, managing director of lomarlabs, said: “For shipowners and operators to meet ambitious regulatory targets cost-effectively, we must see a surge in new solutions beyond the currently available technologies.
“This collaboration introduces a carbon capture system specifically designed for our industry, playing a crucial role in the challenging task of decarbonising maritime operations.”
Lower-energy solution
Calcarea’s technology offers lower overall energy demands and costs compared with alternatives, the companies argue.
Jess Adkins, founder and CEO of Calcarea, said the solution was also cheaper and needs less infrastructure than comparable alternatives to cut emissions from shipping.
“But we need traction from shipowners and operators themselves to get our system out into the industry and in use. This collaboration will accelerate the testing and maritime engineering needed to get our system in use and reduce emissions,” he added.
