Lomarlabs teams up with Calcarea to develop onboard carbon capture tech

Lomarlabs, a unit of UK-based shipping firm Lomar Shipping, has partnered with climate-tech start-up Calcarea to develop an onboard carbon capture tech that captures CO2 and converts it to ocean salts.

PHOTO: Calacarea’s onboard carbon capture technology model. Lomarlabs

Calcarea’s system captures carbon dioxide (CO2) from ship exhausts and transforms it into stable, harmless bicarbonate ions before releasing them into the ocean.

With more than 38,000 gigatons of bicarbonate already present in the ocean, the carbon is stored permanently and safely as water that is slightly saltier, Lomarlabs claims.

Calcarea's technology enables ships to sequester carbon at sea by converting it into bicarbonate for release, eliminating the necessity to store captured carbon on board and offload it at port for transport and injection. This approach results in lower energy demands and costs compared to current alternatives.

By replicating the Earth's natural oceanic carbon cycle, where excess carbon dioxide reacts with calcium carbonate (CaCO3) to form bicarbonate over long periods, Calcarea's method mitigates potential uncertainties in ocean chemistry and ecosystems, it adds.

Calcarea is a carbon-sequestration start-up founded by the California Institute of Technology.

By Tuhin Roy

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