A Danish startup, DecarbonICE, is developing a method to transport carbon dioxide in specially-designed shipping containers, improving efficiency of transport by using the existing global container transport infrastructure.
The business has developed highly-insulated containers that maintain the CO2 in solid form during transport, enabling it to be moved by ship, truck, or train transport, without the need for infrastructure such as pipelines, dedicated terminals, or specialised vessels.
According to the firm, this process could make the transport of CO2 considerably cheaper, as well as being more environmentally friendly.
Efficient transport
“If we want to have any hope of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, we really need to find and scale solutions for how we most efficiently transport CO2,” commented DecarbonICE CEO Henrik O. Madsen, who perviously headed up Norwegian firm DNV.
“Today, CO2 is transported in liquid form […], but with DecarbonICE’s method, this can be done much more efficiently, safely and cheaper, with investment costs down to one twentieth of current solutions and operating costs up to 30%.”
DecarbonICE is planning a ‘demo run’ that will see CO2 transported in solid form using a 20-foot insulated container, on a route that will include multiple Danish ports and CO2 capture facilities, continue to Germany by train, and finally make its way by ship to Reykjavik, Iceland.
Existing infrastructure
The company’s COO, Mikkel Navarro Hansen – a former Maersk Line executive – added that specially insulated and designed shipping containers can make a significant difference in optimising CO2 transport.
“There are over 43 million shipping containers globally, and even a small percentage of these can transport all the CO2 we capture in the future,” he commented.
“Container transport is the backbone of all global transport today. Therefore, the entire existing infrastructure can be used for DecarbonICE’s solution. It does not require any changes to the supply chains – but it does require companies or authorities to be willing to support the effort. DecarbonICE cannot do it alone, but with the right support we can quickly and efficiently scale the concept.” Read more here.
