Optimal ship-based CO2 transport chains from Mediterranean emission points to the North Sea

Carbon capture and storage is one option for reducing industrial CO2 emissions. Ship CO2 transport is gaining interest due to its potential competitive cost, lower risk, and higher flexibility with respect to pipelines. This work focusses on the cost of ship CO2 transport chains in the European context. The objective is to develop an economic model of CO2 transport via ship, including the chain stages: liquefaction, buffer storage, loading, ship, conditioning, and unloading. An optimisation model is proposed to determine the minimum transport cost from Southern European ports to permanent geological storage in the North Sea. The minimum cost is found around 26 €/t of CO2 for a total transported CO2 of 103 Mt/y, which may be cost-competitive with pipelines for long distance routes via large vessels (greater than 50 kt)