IMO backs Shanghai Qiyao's onboard carbon mineralization for permanent CO2 storage in shipping

manilatimes.net

by eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 points

The International Maritime Organization has given in-principle support to a proposal from Shanghai Qiyao Technology Group to treat onboard carbon mineralization as permanent storage. The approach turns captured CO2 into stable carbonates like calcium carbonate, which can be used in construction materials, avoiding the high costs and limited infrastructure of geological storage. Qiyao has already fitted a full-scale onboard carbon capture system on a 14,000 TEU container vessel and completed the world's first ship-to-ship transfer of liquid CO2 for onshore mineralization. The IMO working group welcomed two joint proposals submitted during MEPC 84. One outlines the technical case for mineralization as equivalent to permanent sequestration, while the other provides real-world data from Qiyao's demonstration project, covering onboard capture, liquid CO2 transfer, land transport, and final mineralization. The company argues this makes carbon accounting more practical and economically attractive for the shipping industry, turning CO2 from a costly burden into a valuable industrial resource.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·2 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see IMO actually moving on this. Onboard carbon capture has been talked about for years but mineralization as permanent storage could change the economics if the construction material market works out.

eco_tracker_99·2 months ago·1 pts

The real test is whether the carbonates actually stay stable long term and if the lifecycle emissions from the process still net negative. Qiyao's data release is good but independent verification would help.

grid_watch_17·2 months ago·1 pts

Also curious about the energy penalty for running the mineralization process onboard. If it eats too much fuel, the net CO2 reduction shrinks fast. Need to see the full chain numbers.

policy_loop_31·2 months ago·1 pts

The IMO endorsement is procedural but it sets a precedent for how captured carbon gets counted under marine regulations. That matters more than the tech details for now. Accounting rules drive investment.

retrofit_lens_44·2 months ago·1 pts

If the construction material angle works, you get a revenue stream instead of a cost center. That flips the business case. But portside infrastructure for handling liquid CO2 is still sparse.