Finland’s Wartsila, a manufacturer of exhaust gas cleaning systems, or scrubbers, is exploring the potential for the units to strip not just sulfur but carbon dioxide from ships’ emissions, a move which could stave off obsolescence as the maritime industry moves from sulfur to CO2 caps.
Initial findings show that CCS on ships is a technically viable avenue for the sector to pursue and to further accelerate development, Wartsila is installing a 1 MW pilot plant at its test facility in Moss, Norway, the company in a statement March 16.
“Carbon capture and storage, enabled by scrubbers, must take a central role within the suite of solutions helping to drive decarbonization in shipping, including alternative fuels and efficiency technologies,” Wartsila said. As there is no single solution to minimize shipping’s environmental impact the sector must innovate broadly across multiple areas, the company added.
“Exhaust gas abatement technologies have reached a point of maturity where it is only right that we explore their wider applications beyond sulfur compliance,” Sigurd Jenssen, director for exhaust treatment at Wartsila, said in the statement…
