Navigating within the Safe Operating Space with Carbon Capture On-Board

[Image: see text] Despite the global pandemic that recently affected human and cargo transportation, the emissions of the maritime sector are projected to keep growing steadily. The International Maritime Organization focused on boosting the fleets’ efficiency to improve their environmental performance, while more sustainable fuels are currently under investigation. Here, we assess the economic, technical, and environmental feasibility of an interim solution for low-carbon shipping using state-of-the-art CO(2) capture technology, namely, chemical absorption, on-board cargo ships. We compute the carbon footprint of this alternative and perform an absolute sustainability study based on seven planetary boundaries. Our results show that the capture on-board scenario can achieve 94% efficiency on the net CO(2) emissions at 85 $/tCO(2) while substantially reducing impacts on core planetary boundaries (relative to the business as usual) and outperforming a direct air capture scenario in global warming and all planetary boundaries, except for the nitrogen flow. Hence, capture on-board seems an appealing solution to decarbonize shipping in the short term while alternative carbon-free fuels and related infrastructure are developed and deployed.