lomarlabs partners with Blue Dot Change to develop methane-reducing tech for ships
lomarlabs, a unit of London-based Lomar Shipping, has collaborated with Silicon Valley-based tech start-up Blue Dot Change to develop, design and test Blue Dot Change’s catalyst dispenser that aims to reduce methane in air.
PHOTO: Illustration of Blue Dot Change’s nature-based catalyst dispenser on a ship. Blue Dot Change
Blue Dot Change’s catalyst dispenser intends to accelerate the natural process of breaking down methane by releasing a catalyst into the air above oceans via ships.
On a 100-year timescale, methane has 28 times greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide and is 84 times more potent on a 20-year timescale, according to the European Commission.
Nature-based technology that looks to help repair climate
Methane is naturally broken down by chlorine - which is abundant in ocean air in the form of ions - in the presence of sunlight (specifically ultraviolet rays) and iron from the dust in air. The sunlight provides energy for the reaction and iron in the dust acts as the catalyst. At the end of the process, methane breaks into water and carbon dioxide.
PHOTO: Illustration of Chlorine ions breaking down methane in oceanic air. Blue Dot Change
Blue Dot Change plans to release iron-rich particles that contain chloride from a dispenser onboard ship. The catalyst emission will be independent of the ship’s emissions and will only be released “when the meteorological conditions are optimal for it to work efficiently,” it says.
The company considers ships as “an ideal testing ground for this unproven and potentially transformational technology, as they already operate in an ideal environment for breaking down methane.”
Ample access to wind over oceans will aid the catalyst to permeate the atmosphere and speed up the natural process of breaking down methane, the tech start-up adds.
“Together, we look forward to making a substantial impact on shipping’s net zero objectives while also providing a significant contribution to global climate repair,” Blue Dot Change’s chief executive and co-founder David Henkel-Wallace says.
“If enough commercial ships were to adopt this technology the tech innovator hopes to cut rising temperatures by a third through methane removal from oceanic air,” Blue Dot Change claims.
Work in Progress
The two companies will jointly design and develop the prototype system, carry out additional pilots to evaluate the deployment of the dispenser, and will install weather system onboard one of Lomar Shipping’s vessels to collect data and make improvements to the model.
Both companies expect to install and deploy the first fully operational system on a Lomar vessel in late 2024 or early 2025.
By Tuhin Roy
Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online
