New research shows how a shipboard system using limestone and seawater could cut maritime CO2 emissions by 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scientists at USC and Caltech, in collaboration with startup company Calcarea<\/a>, have developed a promising shipboard system that could remove up to half of carbon dioxide emitted from shipping vessels by converting it into an ocean-safe solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The breakthrough, described in Science Advances<\/a>, describes how the system<\/a> could reduce carbon emissions from the shipping industry \u2014 one of the world\u2019s most difficult-to-decarbonize sectors<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s beautiful about this is how simple it is,\u201d said William Berelson<\/a>, the Paxson H. Offield Professor in Coastal and Marine Systems at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and co-corresponding author of the study. \u201cWe\u2019re speeding up a process the ocean already uses to buffer CO2 \u2014 but doing it on a ship, and in a way that can meaningfully reduce emissions at scale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The process mimics a natural chemical reaction in the ocean. As ships move through seawater, CO2 from their exhaust is absorbed into water pumped onboard, making it slightly more acidic. That water is then passed through a bed of limestone, where the acid reacts with the rock to form bicarbonate \u2014 a safe, stable compound that exists naturally in seawater. The treated water, now stripped of CO2, is then discharged back into the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat\u2019s most exciting to me is that this started as a pure science question: How does the ocean buffer CO2?\u201d Berelson added. \u201cFrom there, we realized we might have a real-world solution that could help fight climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maritime shipping accounts for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet current solutions, like low-carbon fuels and electrification, remain expensive or impractical for long-distance voyages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe see our approach as a complementary strategy that could help ships reduce their environmental impact without major design overhauls,\u201d said Jess Adkins<\/a>, co-founder and CEO of Calcarea and the Smits Family Professor of Geochemistry and Global Environmental Science at Caltech.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom lab to sea<\/h4>\n\n\n\n