OCGI and GCMD partner on advanced solutions for maritime decarbonization

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) and Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD) formed a two-year coalition partnership agreement to work on a range of solutions to decarbonize the shipping industry, the organizations said in a statement on June 25.

The focus of collaboration will center on enhancing energy efficiency to reduce emissions and advancing future fuels with lower carbon intensity, such as ammonia, methanol, and biofuel blends. These efforts will also encompass exploring onboard carbon capture pathways.

OGCI, an initiative comprising 12 leading global oil and gas companies, aims for decarbonizing transportation to achieve net-zero emissions as primary objective.

Also, as part of the collaboration, OGCI will bring to the partnership expertise and know-how in developing land-based carbon capture projects at carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) hubs to mature OCCS, which is at a much earlier stage.

On the other hand, GCMD aims to support the decarbonization of the maritime sector through pilots and trials.

A six-month biofuel trial named Project Lotus aims to determine the comprehensive ownership costs associated with using biofuels as a marine fuel, encompassing engine maintenance expenses, managed by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD) based in Singapore.

This initiative represents a progression from earlier trials by specifically evaluating the operational effects of biofuel blends throughout the supply chain. The trial aims to provide insights into long-term viability, focusing on engine performance and the functionality of onboard fuel delivery systems.

Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD, said: "Our partnership with OGCI will lend an important lens on shipping's role in the global fuel transition. As our Coalition partner, we look forward to forge pathways to build up the portfolio of viable solutions for shipping to achieve its net-zero targets."

The new partnership builds on an existing collaboration between OGCI and GCMD known as "Project REMARCCABLE," (realizing maritime carbon capture to demonstrate the ability to lower emissions) an initiative to demonstrate end-to-end onboard carbon capture at scale. The phase 1 of this project is complete, and findings will be published later this year.

GCMD noted that this collaboration also further complements efforts to unlock the carbon value chain downstream from OCCS, including offloading, distribution, utilization and sequestration or utilization of onboard captured CO2.