Japanese Government Unveils Liquefied CO2 Transportation Ship ‘Excool’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:23 JST, February 17, 2024

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry on Friday unveiled the liquefied carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation ship “Excool”. The ship will be used for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), which stores CO2 emitted from thermal power plants and other sources underground.

Excool has two tanks with a total capacity of 1,450 cubic meters and is intended to be used as a means of transporting liquefied CO2.

The ministry plans from around October to start a trial transporting CO2 liquefied at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Maizuru Power Station in Kyoto Prefecture to Tomakomai, Hokkaido, where testing of CCS is underway.

This will be the world’s first attempt to transport the liquid gas at a low temperature of about minus 50 C, according to the ministry. It aims to devise a stable, cost-effective method of liquefied CO2 transportation by conducting tests while changing the temperature and pressure of the liquid gas.

CCS has drawn attention as a measure for reducing CO2 emitted into the atmosphere by fossil fuel-driven industries such as thermal power generation and steel manufacturing. The government aims to industrialize the technology by 2030.