Shipping Emissions Transformed Into Construction Materials

Maritime carbon capture technology converts cargo vessel exhaust into cement ingredients, providing a circular economy loop and an immediate decarbonization solution.

Shipping accounts for 3% of global emissions

Carbon capture technology is primed to address the shipping industry’s significant environmental footprint - it accounts for around 3 percent of global emissions (roughly the same as the airline industry) but remains one of the hardest industries to decarbonize. But the good news is that maritime carbon capture has now become a commercial reality aboard the UBC Cork cargo ship. UK startup Seabound installed the world’s first commercial carbon capture system on this German-owned cement carrier, demonstrating how ships can transform their own emissions into valuable construction materials.

Seabound’s system captures exhaust gas from the vessel’s diesel engines and channels it into a high-pressure chamber filled with calcium hydroxide pebbles. The CO2 reacts with these pebbles to form calcium carbonate, commonly known as limestone, which serves as cement’s primary ingredient.

This chemical transformation creates a circular economy loop. Instead of releasing emissions into the atmosphere, ships produce raw materials for the construction industries. The limestone gets stored onboard and delivered to shore-based cement plants, where it supports greener concrete production.

Performance testing demonstrates high efficiency levels. Maritime carbon capture systems can trap up to 95 percent of CO2 emissions and 98 percent of sulfur compounds from ship exhaust. This impressive pollution reduction addresses both climate change and air quality concerns in coastal communities.

Economic benefits extend beyond emission reductions. Ships generate valuable products instead of waste, creating new revenue streams from the materials they capture. Cement plants receive consistent supplies of raw materials while reducing their own direct emissions from limestone quarrying.

Seabound has lofty goals. It plans to capture 100 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2040, representing 10 percent of the shipping sector’s total emissions. This ambitious target requires scaling across hundreds and eventually thousands of vessels worldwide, transforming maritime carbon capture from niche technology to an industry standard.

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