GCMD's OCCS pilot earns EU ETS recognition

CO2 captured during an onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) pilot has been officially recognised for compliance under the EU ETS, the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) said.

IMAGE: Transfer of LCO2 from Ever Top vessel to tanker Dejin 26. Linkedin of GCMD

An OCCS system developed by Shanghai Qiyao Environmental Technology was installed on Evergreen Marine's container ship Ever Top as part of the pilot. The system captured around 25 mt of CO2 during the vessel's voyage from Port Klang, Malaysia, to Yangshan Port, China.

The captured CO2 was liquefied onboard and then transferred ship-to-ship to Zhoushan Dejin Shipping's tanker Dejin 26, followed by transfer to a truck for transport to Baotou, Inner Mongolia.

Around 16 mt of the captured CO2 was ultimately delivered to Baorong Environmental, where it was used to produce low-carbon calcium carbonate.

"GCMD's life cycle assessment further showed that this first-of-a-kind pilot achieved a 7.9% net GHG reduction, based on a 10.7% gross onboard capture rate," the non-profit said.

The verified 25 mt of captured CO2 can now be deducted from emissions requiring the surrender of EU Allowances (EUAs) under the EU ETS, according to GCMD.

“To qualify for this [EU ETS] recognition, the CO2 must be chemically bound permanently in eligible products,” GCMD explained, adding that the pilot showed that “CO2 captured onboard vessels can meet this requirement through carbon mineralisation.”

Separately, a proposal submitted to the IMO for recognising mineralisation of carbon as a permanent CO2 storage - based on data from this pilot - has also secured in-principle support from the global shipping regulator.

“The acceptance of the EU ETS deduction gives captured CO2 a compliance value. At the same time, IMO’s in-principle support for carbon mineralisation will help clarify how captured CO2 can be treated after it leaves the vessel,” GCMD's chief executive Lynn Loo said.

By Konica Bhatt

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