TOKYO: Japan has launched a government-led panel to commercialize carbon capture and storage, or CCS, projects by 2030, including by creating a common standard for ships carrying liquefied carbon dioxide and developing tanks to store liquefied CO2.
CCS projects, in which large amounts of CO2 emitted during the production of steel and chemical products are transported by ship and stored underground, are seen as key to achieving decarbonization in high-emitting industries such as steel, chemical and cement.
In Asia, depleted gas fields in Malaysia and Indonesia are likely candidate sites for underground storage. While South Korea and Singapore are also planning to transport CO2 to these countries, Japan is eager to take the initiative, including by creating a common standard for transport ships through public-private cooperation.
Members of the government-led panel include not only shipbuilders and shipping companies, but also CO2-emitting companies, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Nippon Yusen K.K., Nippon Steel Corp. and Taiheiyo Cement Corp.
Establishing a common standard is likely to lead to “realizing CCS value chains and improving economic efficiency,” said an official of a major shipbuilder among the panel members.
To transport massive amounts of liquefied CO2 from factories and power plants, it must be kept at low temperatures and pressures. Necessary technologies have yet to be developed.
In October, the government began a demonstration project to transport liquefied CO2 by ship between Tomakomai in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido and Maizuru in the western prefecture of Kyoto. It aims to establish necessary transport technology by fiscal 2026.
Many suitable sites for CO2 storage are believed to exist in Southeast Asia. But the government plans to develop technology for domestic storage first. In fiscal 2025, it will conduct test drilling at one of five domestic candidate sites, hoping to assess the economic viability of CCS projects to help private companies make investment decisions.
JIJI Press