A pair of startups have revealed an innovative emissions capture system that could slash climate pollution from thousands of merchant ships idling in ports around the world.
The integrated barge-based system is a collaboration between Stax Engineering, a U.S. firm whose chief strategy officer is the actor and entrepreneur Edward Norton, and the British carbon capture company Seabound. Their technologies were demonstrated Wednesday during an afternoon event at the Port of Long Beach in southern California.
The shipping industry is collectively responsible for 3 percent of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions. That’s more than Japan, the world’s fifth-largest national emitter.
The new collaboration aims to solve a small but significant piece of the industry’s climate challenge: Emissions produced by vessels that rely on heavy fuel oil for power while they’re loading, unloading or awaiting repairs. Each idling ship can produce between 15 and 24 metric tons of climate pollution per day, according to Stax CEO Michael Walker.
