Bennu Climate and lomarlabs to trial onboard methane removal tech

Climate tech firm Bennu Climate, together with lomarlabs, a subsidiary of UK-based Lomar Shipping, has initiated the sea trial of a system designed to remove methane during routine ship operations.

IMAGE: Bennu Climate’s methane removal system. lomarlabs

The 12-month pilot will evaluate Bennu Climate’s compact device, which permanently eliminates fugitive methane emissions, aboard a 57,000-dwt bulk carrier owned by Lomar Shipping. The system relies on photochemistry - using light energy to trigger chemical reactions - to break down methane molecules before they can trap heat in the atmosphere.

The unit, weighing around 50 kg, can be installed within a day and operates without disrupting normal vessel activity. It functions continuously while the ship is underway, removing fugitive methane and also addressing residual methane, or methane slip, in exhaust gases from dual-fuel engines running on LNG.

This deployment builds on Bennu Climate’s earlier dockside trials in 2024, when the company first demonstrated its UV-based methane destruction technology on a Lomar vessel in port.

“Methane slip from LNG-powered vessels is an emerging climate challenge,” lomarlabs said.

Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, trapping 86 times more heat than carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after release, making it significantly more damaging in the near term, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

The global fleet of LNG-capable vessels currently stands at 921, with another 679 ships expected to be delivered by 2033, according to DNV.

“Nothing can turn back the climate clock faster than methane removal,” said Bennu Climate co-founder and chief executive David Henkel-Wallace.

By Tuhin Roy

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