Seabound Aims To Cut Cargo Ship Emissions With Pebbles
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Ocean shipping moves about 90 percent of global trade, from oranges to televisions. But the industry also produces over 3 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions. If nothing changes, its carbon footprint could reach 10 percent by 2050. UK-based startup Seabound aims to tackle this with a device that can capture up to 95 percent of a ship’s emissions.
Seabound’s technology fits inside a standard shipping container filled with calcium oxide, or quicklime pebbles. It captures the exhaust fumes from the ship’s engines and directs them through the container. Here, the calcium oxide reacts with carbon dioxide (CO2) in the fumes and turns into calcium carbonate, or limestone.
“You can basically picture a box of rocks,” said company co-founder Alisha Fredriksson. “The exhaust gasses pass through there and the CO2 is soaked up and turned into limestone, while the rest is released.”
When the ship reaches port, the limestone pebbles can be offloaded and used in construction. Alternatively, they can be sent to a specialized plant to extract and safely store the captured CO2. The quicklime pebbles can then be reused to capture more carbon.
Early results from Seabound’s technology are promising. In a 2023 test aboard a shipping vessel, it captured 80 percent — about one ton — of the CO2 produced daily. It also removed 90 percent of sulfur emissions. Seabound is now refining the technology and aims to install it on 1,000 ships by 2030.
While simple to use, Seabound's technology does have one potential downside. Storing quicklime pebbles takes up cargo space, which can reduce a ship’s revenue. However, Fredriksson says Seabound works closely with shipping companies to determine how much carbon they wish to capture. She says that in most cases, the space used is less than 1 percent of total cargo capacity.
Resources: CNN.com, nina.org.uk, Seabound.com
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23 Comments
paisleyy7 dayscool:)
thewatcher200013 daysI wonder what would happen if we did The same thing with cars.- theolive18 daysVery interesting; I never thought about using rocks.
chocolate16819 daysI'm studying the impact of commercial shipping on the environment in school rn, so this is really cool !!
gummybear25719 daysI love this stuff
naturelover5919 daysThat's a great way to be more eco-friendly, one step at a time!
jupiter_stormy19 daysawesome way to help the environment!🌎
enigmaticreader19 daysAwesome
dream_beyond20 daysBrilliant! Small steps toward a better climate!- chocolate16819 daysAnd a better future ;)
- dream_beyond17 daysFor sure
3457620 daysNice!
