Methanox, a new Queen-Mary led venture dedicated to reducing methane emissions from natural gas powered ships, has secured a £1.5 million investment from Tharisa PLC.

The company was founded through a collaboration between Dr Patrick Cullen and Dr Paul Balcombe (QMUL), Professor Andrew Beale (UCL), and Prosemino Ltd.

Often overlooked and misunderstood, unburned methane emissions, particularly at lower engine loads, can substantially diminish the environmental advantages of using natural gas over traditional marine fuels. Recent research into these methane emissions, including a wide-ranging study by Dr Balcombe (Balcombe et al. Environmental Science & Technology 2022), has shown that methane slippage from natural gas-powered vessels is much higher than originally anticipated.

With growing regulatory scrutiny and no commercial solutions currently available, Methanox aims to fill the gap by developing new catalytic converters, positioning itself as a leading innovator in maritime emissions mitigation.

“Methane is up to 120 times more potent than CO2 in terms of global warming” said Dr Balcombe, Co-founder of Methanox. “Reducing methane emissions is vital to have any chance of meeting our global climate targets.”

The outsized effect of methane on global warming means that Methanox will look to address 0.24% of global CO2e emissions on up to 2,600 ships. Technology development will take place at the UK Catalysis Hub in the Research Complex at Harwell, Oxford.

The latest funding commitment from Tharisa comes at a pivotal moment, as the EU prepares to ramp up regulations targeting methane emissions from shipping. With the funding committed, in-situ vessel testing of the Methanox catalytic converters could be deployed as soon as the second half of 2025.

“With emissions trading schemes such as EU ETS and others on the horizon, shipowners will have to either reduce their methane emissions or pay for their emissions. Our goal is to develop a commercial technology, installed with minimum disruption to ship availability, that not only reduces methane emissions, but also helps customers to avoid these penalties.” says Dr Patrick Cullen, Co-Founder and CEO of Methanox.

Dr Gyen Ming Angel, Director of Venture Building at Prosemino said: “At Prosemino, we specialise in taking cutting-edge science out of the lab and into the world. Methanox is a perfect example - bringing together top-tier catalysis research with entrepreneurial drive to solve an urgent emissions challenge in shipping.”

Dr Patrick Cullen will be taking a leave of absence from his university position to fill the CEO role whilst Dr Paul Balcombe and Prof Andrew Beale will act as Consultants and Directors. With Tharisa’s and Prosemino’s support and the expertise of its founders, the company is well-positioned to drive meaningful change in an industry under increasing pressure to address its environmental footprint.