This Alberta Commercial Park is able to shut carbon elimination Olympics

At a distance of about 120 kilometers north of Calgary, a city, Infidel, away from the highway near Alta, is a construction site, which is immediately identified by a large tent, which surrounds the words “Deep Sky” in a font of a gruvi, arcade-style.

Broadly two-hectare facilities are still under construction, hosting which can be called carbon removal Olympics. This will pilot eight different versions of a similar technique using different machines that will suck in the air, remove carbon dioxide and send it to a central plant where it will be compressed and become liquid for deep underground for storage.

The winner of this initiative will not get a medal at the podium. Instead, Deep Sky, Montreal-based project developer is planning to take the best versions of direct air capture technology behind it that proves to be the most effective in Canadian climate and deploys them on a commercial scale across the country.

“There are some initial data points about this, but have anyone run this system in -30 C yet?” Alex Petre, the new CEO of Deep Sky, was asked, which reflects one of the recently installed direct air capture machines. “No, we are not.”

The company is so confident that it will be successful that it has already started initial work on two commercial projects, one in Quebec and the other in Manitoba. It is yet not to know how they will be fully financed or what technology will be kept to use.

In particular, finance, can be challenging that it is one to remove carbon from the atmosphere Important effortBecause it is still new. But with global temperature Each year growing, see a growing market for business technologies such as Deep Sky that will not only reduce carbon emissions, but will completely remove carbon dioxide from the air.

This can change the appetite because the Trump administration goes away from the initiative of climate change Roughly speaking And carbon removal especially – Although some people say that the changing fate to the south of the border may also offer an opportunity for Canada, where the US left as a world leader in carbon removal.

Damian Steel of Deep Sky said, “Did you talk to me a year ago, I must have told you that Canada was at each other for the United States in terms of carbon removal industry.” Outgoing CEO And current advisors, who believe that carbon removal technique is necessary to deal with warming climate.

“Today, I believe there is an opportunity for Canada to take a global leadership status.”

Can Canada be a leader?

Deep Sky is one of the country’s high-profile carbon removal startups-extended by a major investment Climate Enterprise Firm of Bill Gates – But this is not only one.

For example, Squamish, at the next door in BC, the company has been working for years on removing carbon engineering carbon. AtmosphereWas purchased in 2023 Oxidantal is working on petroleum, and currently on what is believed to be the world Greatest Direct air capture feature in western Texas.

Jeremy Barretto, a regulatory lawyer and partner with a Calgary-based law firm Castes, said that about a year ago his phone was starting “hook closed” with companies interested in launching carbon removal projects in Alberta which were starting to stop the contracts that were seeking their help in negotiating contracts.

“We are in the early stages, but I think we are making a great start,” he said.

At a national level, Prime Minister Mark Carney “pledged in his campaign forum to make Canada”world leader“Carbon removal and sequence. And while America is the first world Weighted In support of carbon removal under Trump administration, funding appears in Limbo and there are many companies operating south of the border. Cutting staff,

Some believe that uncertainty in the south of the border opens a window of opportunity to become new hotbed to remove carbon for Canada.

“We can see a route that (investment) capital that will be deployed in America otherwise really comes to the north of the border,” said Ed Whitingam, former head of the Calgary-based think-tank, Pambina Institute, said, “We can actually north of the border.”

Economics a challenge

But with any type of clean technology, an ongoing challenge lies in finding out who will pay for it.

Deep Sky is not selling carbon removal facility itself. Instead, it removes and produces carbon from the air Carbon creditCompanies that can then purchase some environmental goals to hit.

The company has sold its first credit RBC and Microsoft Through an agreement that will remove 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere over a period of 10 years.

Deep Sky will not say what is the cost of these credits, but in a recent report, investment bank Jefferies said that one of the challenges faced by the industry is “Carbon Removal Credit Highly expensive,

Another risk, Jefferies analysts said, there is a concentration of demand. Microsoft, which was one of the early buyers of the company Deep Sky, is responsible for most of the carbon removal credits that have been purchased so far.

Tim Bushman, director of policy and research with industry group Carbon Removal Canada, says that in this country, more than a dozen companies have so far bought credit from carbon removal projects.

“It’s a bit slow,” Bushman said, although he believes that Canadian companies are more likely to support domestic projects, more carbon removal projects will be completed in the country.

Efforts are on to reduce the demand for these credit. Environmental Policy Advisor, Whitingham, “working on”Advanced market commitment“Initiative – Companies are committed to banding and purchasing carbon removal credits from projects that are still subject to development.

“Then the carbon removal project allows developers to achieve their projects on the final investment decision barrier,” he said.

With an economy On the verge of recessionCompanies may be less likely to pay for carbon removal credits. Instead, they can seek cheap ways to reduce their emissions – or they can let their environmental initiative fall completely from the way.

“When the markets are bad, people are lower the possibility of paying additional costs to indicate good behavior voluntarily,” said Warren Mabi, director of Queen University Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy.

‘I believe’

Steel, CEO of Deep Sky, believes that all those problems are solutions.

Carbon removal can now be expensive, they say, but as the technology develops, those costs will be reduced. Deep Sky also benefits from a federal tax credit This will help create its first business projects.

He said that the infidel site, this summer will start capturing and indexing carbon later. And even once winning technologies are chosen, the company plans to continue the test site for a total of 20 years.

While some companies have recently been publicly staying away from themselves Climate commitmentSteel believes that behind the curtain, CEOs still feel that climate creates a long -term risk for its business and is ready to invest in solutions.

“I believe that at the end of the day, humans usually care about our future,” Steel said.