Tampa-based Aptamus Carbon Solutions will begin planning a carbon dioxide terminal and marine transportation system at Seaport Manatee for a proposed biomethanol plant expected to capture about 200,000 metric tons of CO2 each year.
Aptamus signed an agreement with Fort Myers-based Demeter Energy, developer of the proposed Manatee County plant that would turn Florida wood and green waste into about 100,000 metric tons of biomethanol annually while capturing roughly 200,000 metric tons of CO2 before it reaches the atmosphere.
Aptamus would handle what happens next, studying where to put the Seaport Manatee terminal, laying out the site and working on a U.S.-built vessel capable of carrying both biomethanol and liquefied CO2. The dual-cargo ship, which Aptamus says would be the first of its kind in the country, would carry the captured carbon to Texas or Louisiana for permanent underground storage or use in enhanced oil recovery.
Operating under the Jones Act would require the ship to be built at a U.S. shipyard, owned by a U.S. company and crewed by U.S. mariners. Aptamus President Jeffrey Ross Williams said the company will draw on its experience designing CO2 terminals and vessels as it works on the Manatee project.
“We are excited to work with Demeter Energy to advance the development of a biomethanol facility in Florida,” Williams said.
The project would extend Aptamus’ carbon-handling work from Seaport Manatee to Port Tampa Bay, where the Overseas Shipholding Group affiliate and Saltchuk transportation and energy company was previously selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for design and engineering work on a CO2 loading and processing terminal paired with a discharge terminal in Louisiana.
The announcement did not include a construction timeline or project cost, and the work remains at the planning stage. Aptamus will first study possible terminal locations, develop a site plan and investigate the vessel design while Demeter continues developing the proposed biomethanol and carbon-capture plant.