EmissionLink has urged EU policymakers to ringfence part of Emissions Trading System revenues for trials of onboard carbon capture and the port infrastructure those trials will require, warning that the technology risks remaining commercially unviable without targeted financial support.
The appeal was reported on 26 October 2026 and is linked to the company’s analysis of the investments needed to move carbon capture from demonstration to early commercial deployment in the maritime sector.
Philippos Ioulianou, Managing Director of EmissionLink, is named in the report as the company executive behind the call. EmissionLink set out that a dedicated proportion of EU ETS revenues should be channelled to support both onboard trial activity and the supporting works at ports.
The case for dedicated funding
EmissionLink’s submission to policymakers frames the proposal as a focused use of EU ETS proceeds to bridge a commercial gap. The company warned that without such directed funding maritime carbon capture risks failing to reach commercial viability because early trials and the necessary shore-side infrastructure entail costs that the market will not bear unaided.
The report identifies two linked funding priorities: financing trials of carbon capture systems fitted to ships, and upgrading or creating port infrastructure to receive, handle and store or process the captured carbon. EmissionLink describes these elements as mutually dependent, with progress in one stream slowed if the other does not receive concurrent investment.
Policy implications and industry response
EmissionLink’s call places the issue directly in the policy domain that governs the use of EU ETS receipts. The company argues that using a defined share of those receipts for maritime carbon capture trials and ports would provide a predictable stream for the development activities industry stakeholders say are required to scale the technology.
The company’s warning that the technology may remain commercially unviable without targeted support underlines a wider challenge for low‑emission shipping technologies: early-stage costs and infrastructure requirements can prevent solutions from progressing beyond pilot phases.
A targeted funding mechanism, as proposed by EmissionLink, would aim to reduce investor risk and accelerate practical learning from trials. The report implies that such learning is a prerequisite for firms to refine technical solutions, assess operational implications and develop credible business cases that could attract private capital.
EmissionLink’s proposal adds to an expanding discussion over how transition revenues may be deployed to speed decarbonisation in hard-to-abate sectors. By setting out the specific link between onboard trials and port works, the company seeks to focus debate on the co-dependencies that determine whether maritime carbon-capture projects can be scaled effectively.
The reports item dated 26 October 2026 presents EmissionLink’s position but does not record a formal response from EU institutions or other industry bodies. EmissionLink’s intervention is therefore a contribution to an ongoing policy conversation rather than the announcement of a settled funding decision.
In its published piece the news outlet relays EmissionLink’s view that deploying EU ETS revenues in this way could change the commercial calculus for carbon-capture technologies at sea. The company’s call is likely to be weighed alongside competing demands on ETS receipts and the measures proposed by other maritime stakeholders concerned with the sector’s decarbonisation pathway.
EmissionLink, through its managing director Philippos Ioulianou, has framed the proposal as a targeted use of funds to overcome specific commercial barriers. The coming months will determine whether policymakers take up the recommendation, consult further or prioritise alternative mechanisms for supporting early deployment of maritime carbon solutions.