Investigations and applications of carbon control technology: The roadmap to zero-carbon shipping

Abstract

With the increasingly stringent carbon emission regulations issued by International Maritime Organization (IMO), ship carbon emissions have attracted increasing attention. The ship carbon control regulations are first comprehensively analyzed. On this basis, the monitoring and analysis technology of ship carbon emissions is introduced. Then, the research status of ship carbon control technology from the short, medium and long-term points of view is systematically reviewed. The shortcomings and challenges of the ship carbon control technology are summarized, and the future development trends are summarized and prospected. The comprehensive analysis results show that the short-term carbon control technologies can reduce ship carbon emissions through operational measures and optimization measures, but it is rather hard to meet medium and long-term goals of carbon control. The medium-term carbon control technologies, including methanol fuel and biofuels, could further reduce ship carbon emissions, but they still cannot achieve zero-carbon emissions. In order to realize the long-term carbon emission control goal, the long-term carbon control technologies, including ammonia fuel and carbon capture technology, should be adopted to achieve the truly green shipping industry.