Finland's Wartsila is aiming to test out carbon capture on vessels through the use of scrubbers.
The marine services giant believes exhaust gas abatement systems have the potential to directly tackle CO2 emissions in the near future, as technology advances and the kits are upgraded.
Emissions would be captured at the point of exhaust, the company said.
Wartsila has conducted extensive research and development to explore how this could work, building on knowledge gained from reducing sulphur output.
To further accelerate this process, the company is installing a 1-MW pilot plant at its test facility in Moss, Norway, allowing a range of scenarios and conditions to be tested.
Wartsila said carbon capture and storage, enabled by scrubbers, must take a central role within a "suite of solutions" helping to drive decarbonisation in shipping.
No single answer
Because there is no single solution to emissions reduction, the industry must innovate broadly across multiple areas, the company added.
"Building on the success of existing and well-proven technologies, such as scrubbers, will be vital to succeeding on the industry’s decarbonisation goals," said Sigurd Jenssen, director of exhaust treatment at Wartsila.
"Exhaust gas abatement technologies have reached a point of maturity where it is only right that we explore their wider applications beyond sulphur compliance."
The company admitted that this is a substantial undertaking, but the technique could cut emissions in a relatively short time frame.
"This is important in the context of the industry's overall decarbonisation transition, as it will enable us to safeguard existing assets as we move to a cleaner mode of operating," Wartsila said.
In January, the company told TradeWinds conditions were not yet right for shipping's second scrubber boom, despite the widening gap between high and low-sulphur fuel prices.
Tamara de Gruyter, president of marine systems, said that day may come later this year if economies recover and there is greater consistency in the spread between the bunker types.
