Many businesses around the world are tackling the issue of methane emissions. One of the companies taking this issue seriously Lomar Shipping is doing just that, as the Maritime Executive reports.
Lomar Shipping was founded in 1976 with main offices in Germany, UK, Croatia and Singapore and operates globally through the Libra Group network.
The company has its own in-house tech division, Lomarlabs, partnering with a climate-tech startup, Blue Dot Change. The company will develop a system that breaks down emissions, not from a vessel’s emissions, but in the air.
The focus of the venture
The venture will see the companies develop and test a new nature-based catalyst to break down methane in the air. In a statement, Blue Dot Change explains, “The fresh sea air contains chlorine ions in relative abundance, and Blue Dot thinks that it can speed up the natural process of breaking down methane by releasing an iron chloride compound into the air. Its proposal is to use a ship’s stack to eject this catalyst into the air as the ship continues on its commercial voyage. The catalyst should stay suspended in the air for up to 10 days, depending on weather conditions. This will recreate an environment similar to the air at sea level, but more concentrated.”
Lomar Shipping will provide new technology for Blue Dot’s testing and will also give technical advice on the project. “Lomarlabs is advising on the engineering and design of this transformative solution, adapting it to the realities of everyday shipping operations and providing industry insight and expertise. We are focused on catalyzing new, environmentally-driven technologies and believe this nature-centered approach has the potential to introduce systemic, gradual change in the way we remove methane from the air,” says Lomar’s Stylianos Papa Georgiou.
Lomar’s focus on a cleaner environment
In April 2023, Lomar announced the launch of a project with another startup, Seabound that would store quicklime pellets temporarily on board a vessel. These pellets then convert to limestone. “Once back in port, the limestone pebbles are offloaded and either sold in pure form or turned back into quicklime and CO2, for the quicklime to be reused on board another vessel and the CO2 sold for utilization or sequestration,” according to the company.
The autonomous intergovernmental organization, International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in February this year already that methane is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution. The IEA detailed in a report that rapid and sustained reductions in methane emissions are crucial to limiting near-term global warming and improving air quality.
This month, the world even united to observe Zero Emissions Day in an effort to create a sharp focus on reducing our carbon footprint.
Who is the new startup: Blue Dot Change
Blue Dot Change was founded by entrepreneurs. The company’s CEO David Henkel-Wallace has founded and run companies globally in solar thermal power, pharmaceuticals and software.
About the author
Sharl is a qualified journalist. He has over 10 years’ experience in the media industry, including positions as an editor of a magazine and Business Editor of a daily newspaper. Sharl also has experience in logistics specifically operations, where he worked with global food aid organisations distributing food into Africa. Sharl enjoys writing business stories and human interest pieces.
