A development from a Caltech and USC spinoff is set to revolutionize carbon capture in the shipping industry. The reactor created by the startup transforms carbon dioxide emissions into harmless salt, offering an effective solution for reducing the environmental impact of international shipping.
According to the developers, this technology can convert CO2 into stable salts that lock away carbon for up to 100,000 years, helping the industry meet its 2050 net-zero emissions target.
“This is a reaction that the planet has been running for billions of years. If we can just speed it up, we have a shot at a safe and permanent way of storing CO2,” said Jess Adkins, a chemical oceanographer from Caltech and a founder of the startup Calcarea.
The reactor’s process mimics a natural oceanic phenomenon where seawater absorbs about one-third of atmospheric CO2. This absorption increases ocean acidity and dissolves calcium carbonate, found in coral skeletons and shells. The dissolved calcium carbonate reacts with CO2 to form bicarbonate salts, effectively storing the carbon.
Calcarea’s reactor replicates this process on ships. Exhaust fumes from the ship are mixed with seawater and limestone inside the reactor. This reaction produces saline water that traps CO2 as bicarbonate salts. Adkins noted that one reactor could capture and store approximately half of a ship’s CO2 emissions, with the process accelerated from over 10,000 years in nature to about a minute in the reactor.
Calcarea has built two prototype reactors—one at USC’s parking lot and another at the Port of Los Angeles. In late May, the company announced a partnership with Lomar, an international shipping company’s research and development arm. This collaboration aims to deploy the first full-scale reactor prototype on a ship.
“We think that ships are going to be able to compete with underground CO2 storage,” Adkins stated. The plan involves specially designed ships that would transport CO2 and limestone to sea and operate the reactor, providing an efficient and safe method for carbon storage.
