Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines (Mol) and shipbuilder Mitsubishi Shipbuilding have made progress in developing an ocean-going liquified CO2 (LCO2) and methanol carrier, which would play a key role in establishing the country's carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) value chains.
Mol and Mitsubishi have obtained approval in-principle (AiP) from Japanese classification society Class NK for their design concept of a LCO2/methanol carrier. The vessel would ship CO2 out of Japan and deliver CO2-based synthetic methanol (e-methanol) on return voyages to the resource-poor country, the companies announced on 30 June.
The AiP certifies that the basic design of the vessel meets international regulation standards, such as technical requirements, as well as relevant safety restrictions covering the transportation of dangerous chemicals and liquefied gases in bulk.
This is the world's first issuance of an AiP for a LCO2/methanol carrier, Class NK said.
The approval is a major step forward for the companies, which hope to develop the vessel for commercialisation. The target date for its commissioning is still unclear. Mol expects the carrier to help meet Japan's growing demand for CO2 exports and e-methane imports with higher transport efficiency, unlike the use of a dedicated vessel for CO2 or methanol, which results in empty-cargo operation on half of the trips.
E-methanol can be produced using CO2 and renewable hydrogen, which will contribute to decarbonising a variety of industries including the maritime shipping sector.
Mol has previously invested in US synthetic fuel (e-fuel) producer HIF Global, while working with Japanese refiner Idemitsu and HIF subsidiaries HIF USA and HIF Asia Pacific to develop supply chains for synthetic fuel and e-methanol as well as CO2.
HIF plans to produce around 4mn t/yr of e-methanol equivalent by 2030 at its production sites in Tasmania in Australia, Matagorda in the US, Magallanes in Chile and Paysandu in Uruguay by using green hydrogen and CO2, Mol has said.
CCUS value chains would help fossil fuel-reliant Japan reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 60pc by the April 2035 to March 2036 fiscal year and by 73pc by 2040-41, against 2013-14 levels, before achieving the net-zero emissions by 2050.
The Mol group, for its part, aims to reduce emissions intensity in transportation by 45pc against 2019 levels by 2035, as it works towards overall net-zero emissions by 2050.
Japan's GHG emissions totalled 1.017bn t of CO2 in 2023-24, down by 4.2pc from a year earlier to the lowest in 34 years, according to the country's environment ministry. This also reflected a 27pc decline against a 2013-14 baseline.
