China recently completed the construction of the world's first offshore floating production and storage vessel equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The vessel is scheduled for delivery by the end of February.
The ship, measuring 333 meters in length and 60 meters in width, has a daily crude oil production capacity of 120,000 barrels. It has the ability to capture carbon dioxide produced during both its voyage and oil production processes.
Additionally, it harnesses waste heat from exhaust gases to generate electricity, fulfilling both environmental protection and energy-saving goals. This technological breakthrough marks a significant step forward for China in the field of offshore carbon capture.
"The high tower you see here is actually a collection and cleansing tower for carbon capture. The pipes labeled with green marks are the entry points for exhaust gases, which are drawn into the cleansing tower by the fans. Inside the tower, there are absorbents that capture the hydrocarbons from the exhaust gases, resulting in exhaust air with significantly lower carbon emissions," said Xu Xiaohua, senior project manager at Shanghai COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., the builder of the vessel.
In 2023, global offshore oil and gas production emitted approximately 38 million tons of CO2. The figure is expected to rise to nearly 50 million tons by 2030 if without any control.
Carbon capture and storage technologies offer a greater potential for reducing emissions in offshore oil and gas operations, providing a new solution for achieving global carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.
China constructs world’s first offshore floating production, storage vessel with carbon capture technology
Even as the European Union and China moved toward a "soft landing" in their electric vehicle tariff dispute through minimum price agreements earlier this year, the EU's protectionist duties on Chinese-made EVs risk undermining, rather than advancing, Europe’s green transition, warned Michele Geraci, former Undersecretary of State at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development.
The warning came during a China Global Television Network (CGTN) special program, where Geraci sharply criticized the tariffs, arguing that the EU had taken a shortsighted approach that went too far in trying to protect an EV industry that "pretty much does not exist".
"The question is: Are the EU tariffs a good idea for the European Union and its future on the EV? My answer is no. The European Union has taken a little bit of a short-term view with the goal to protect our -- I'm Italian, so I talk about 'our' -- green EV industry that, however, pretty much does not exist," he said.
Geraci went on to explain the broader damage caused by the tariffs.
"At the same time, by delaying the development of imports from the country that is the best in the world, China, we are also inflicting another secondary damage, which is probably the most important that we are not learning to compete with the best in the world. So by closing ourselves into our own bubble of an EV industry, which is limited in quality and prices, we do not allow our companies to compete with what China is best in. Given the events of the last few days, we are not really getting out of dependence on fossil fuels that come from countries that are unstable," he said.
Geraci also pointed out inconsistencies in the policy, noting that Chinese carmakers such as BYD are already producing vehicles inside the EU, notably in Hungary, and those vehicles are exempt from the import tariffs.
Zha Daojiong, a professor at China's prestigious Peking University, offered a different interpretation of the EU's strategy, viewing the tariffs as a form of "market for technology", designed not to ban Chinese EVs outright, but to encourage local manufacturing inside Europe.
"In essence, the EU is not saying that foreign-made or non-EU-made EVs cannot be sold in that region. Rather, through tariffs, the EU worked to incentivize manufacturing of final EV end product," said Zha.
The EU began imposing additional duties on Chinese EVs in 2024. Despite the measures, Chinese brands have continued gaining market share in Europe. In January 2026, the two sides advanced toward a "soft landing" by allowing Chinese manufacturers to offer minimum price commitments as an alternative to high tariffs.
EU's protectionist EV tariffs risk derailing green transition: former Italian official
