Authors | Elvira Esparza and Lucía Burbano

South Korea has outfitted the 2,200 TEU vessel HMM Mongla, with advanced onboard carbon capture systems. This pioneering project is a collaboration among major industry players, including Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Marine Solutions, Panasia, and Korea Register.

With this initiative, the Korean government plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4.8 million tons by 2030. Onboard carbon capture is an emerging field of research with immense potential as a key tool in the pursuit of carbon neutrality. These carbon capture technologies are estimated to reduce CO₂ emissions by between 82% to 90%.

In the case of South Korea, the aim is to explore the seas surrounding the Korean peninsula to assess the CO2 storage capacity. This plan forms part of the First National Carbon Neutral and Green Growth Basic Plan that aims to capture and store carbon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Goal: carbon neutrality by 2050

The aim of this project is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4.8 million tons by 2030, and reach carbon neutrality by 2050. To achieve this, facilities need to be constructed with the capacity to capture one billion tons of CO2 below the seabed.

In 2021, Korea updated its 2030 national greenhouse gas emission goal, known as Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), from 26.3% to 40%.

This year, the KNOC oil corporation and the Hyundai Heavy Industries Group began developing an offshore CO2 storage platform with the aim of storing around 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. This is located 58 km from the Ulsan coast and it is set to be inaugurated next year and operate for 30 years.

Seven public and private organizations are taking part in this initiative with KNOC, including the Korean Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning Institute and various Korean universities and companies such as SK Earthon, which is also currently advancing CCS business development in the United States, Australia and Southeast Asia.

The South Korean project: pioneering carbon capture and eliminating emissions

The project has gained substantial  backing with DNV, the world’s leading classification society and maritime industry advisor, granting approval for the integrated design of the onboard carbon capture system on the HMM Mongla. Following rigorous testing, DNV has confirmed that this Korean carbon capture technology is both feasible and ready to meet new regulatory requirements. Moreover, this technology is adaptable for use across various types of vessels.

This technology uses a patented amine solvent to capture CO₂ from combustion gases. The captured CO₂ is then subjected to a heat-induced chemical reaction, which separates it from the solvent.

Subsequently, the released CO2 is liquefied using Babcock LGE’s ecoCO2® system and stored on board the ship in pressurized low-temperature storage for subsequent offloading. The process’s effectiveness is enhanced by the ability to reuse the solvent, establishing a sustainable regenerative cycle.

The next step will be to conduct operational-level testing of these capture systems. This paper explains that among the candidate sites are the depleted gas reservoirs in the Ulleung Basin (UB) and the saline aquifer in the Gunsan Basin (GB), located in the East Sea and Yellow Sea respectively.

Plans are under development to store approximately 1.2 MtCO2/year in the UB and 1 MtCO2/year in the GB. For the UB, the utilization of the existing 68 km natural gas pipeline has been suggested along with the proposal for new pipeline construction.

For the GB, because of the lack of existing onboard CCS infrastructure, the plan includes the construction of a new pipeline of approximately 175 km, including a terrestrial hub terminal.

Benefits and challenges of carbon capture

Carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) is the process of capturing carbon dioxide emissions produced by fossil fuels and industrial processes to be stored deep underground. The captured CO2 is compressed into a liquid state and transported to a storage site. It is finally injected into the seafloor or in rock formations for permanent storage.

Advantages of CCUS

The captured carbon can also be reused to manufacture biofuels, construction materials, such as concrete, chemicals and plastics.

Carbon capture and storage is one of the most affordable ways of achieving net zero emissions. According to the International Energy Agency (AIE), it is one of the four key pillars of global energy transitions together with renewables-based electrification, bioenergy and hydrogen.

The main uses of carbon capture are:

• Decarbonizing heavy industry, which generates more than 20% of global CO2
• Reducing emissions from power plants and industrial plants while maintaining their production.
• Hydrogen
• Extracting carbon from the air

In order to fulfil the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, countries must develop CO2 capture strategies.

Challenges of CCUS

However, like all clean technologies, carbon capture systems introduce new challenges.

• Captured carbon must be stored for the duration of its journey, which necessitates accommodating the additional volume and mass of the CO₂ on vessels. This requires extra storage space and enhanced safety measures.
• Each kilogram of burned fuel generates approximately three kilograms of CO₂ gas, which, once compressed or liquefied, must be stored onboard.
• Before OCCS technology can be widely adopted, essential infrastructure must be in place. Ports need to be equipped for CO₂ handling and storage, and clear legislation must be established for the safe and regulated offloading of captured CO₂.

Similar projects in other countries

Northern Lights onshore facility

There are 30 carbon capture projects in the world, 11 under construction and 153 in various stages of development, according to the Global CCS Institute. The CO2 capture capacity of all CCS facilities reached 244 million tons in 2022, a growth of 44%.

Most projects are in the United States, followed by Europe -mainly the United Kingdom, Holland and Norway-, Asia and the Middle East. These are some of the CO2 storage projects currently being developed in Europe under the seabed:

• The Zero Carbon Humber Project in the United Kingdom will store all the carbon dioxide captured in the Endurance saline aquifer, located 4.6 km below the seabed of the North Sea. This project has a joint public-private sector investment of £75 million, and the partnership includes the National Grid, Drax and Equinor.
• Norway’s Northern Lights This is a partnership between Shell, Total and Equinor carbon that aims to capture and store CO2 from industrial activities in the North Sea. This will be the first ever cross-border, open-source CO2 transport and storage infrastructure network, and it will offer companies across Europe the possibility of safely and permanently storing their CO2 emissions under the seabed. The initial phase of the project will be operational in 2024 with the ability to manage 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year.

Korea’s initiative to extend its carbon storage projects under the seabed aims to gradually eliminate conventional resources and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Images | Pixabay, Northern Lights

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