Just next to the road near Innisfail, Alta., A city about 120 kilometers north of Calgary, there is a construction site immediately identified by a large tent that has the words “deep sky” in a wonderful source of Arcade style.
The installation of approximately two hectares, still under construction, is organizing what could be called carbon elimination. It will pilot eight different versions of a similar technology that uses several machines that absorb air, will eliminate carbon dioxide and send it to a central plant where it will be compressed and liquefied to store underground storage.
The winner of this initiative would not get a medal on a podium. On the other hand, Deep Sky, the Montreal -based project developer behind it, plans to take the best versions of direct air capture technology that are more effective in Canada’s climate and deploy them commercially throughout the country.
“There are some preliminary data points about this safely, but has anyone executed this system in -30 C still?” Alex Petre asked, the new CEO of Deep Sky, which indicates one of the directly installed direct air capture machines. “No, we haven’t done it.”
The company is so sure that this will succeed that the initial work has already begun in two commercial projects, one in Quebec and the other in Manitoba. That despite not knowing how they will be completely financed or what technology will be used.
Finance, in particular, could be challenging since eliminating carbon from the atmosphere is a expensive effortIn part because it is still new. But with the increase in global temperatures every year, companies such as Deep Sky see a growing market of technologies that will not only reduce carbon emissions, but will eliminate carbon dioxide from the air completely.
This appetite can be changing as the Trump administration moves away from the initiatives of climate change more widely and the elimination of carbon specifically, although some say that changing the fortunes south of the border could also present an opportunity for Canada to retire where the United States left it as a world leader in carbon elimination.
“If you had spoken to me a year ago, I would have told you that Canada was a second distant in the United States in terms of the carbon elimination industry,” said Damien Steel, the CEO and current Deep Sky CEO and advisor, who believes that carbon removal technology is essential to deal with a heater climate.
“Today, I think there is an opportunity for Canada to take a global leadership position.”
Can Canada be a leader?
Deep Sky is one of the new carbon elimination companies in the country, promoted by a large investment of Bill Gates Climate Risk Signature – But it is not the only one.
Just next to Squamish, BC, for example, the company’s carbon engineering has been working for years to eliminate carbon of the environment. It was bought in 2023 By Western Petroleum, and is currently working on what is believed to be the world bigger Direct air capture installation in western Texas.
Jeremy Barretto, a regulatory and associate lawyer of the law firm Cassels, based in Calgary, said about a year ago that his phone began to “sound” with companies interested in launching carbon elimination projects in Alberta that sought their help in the negotiation of contracts.
“We are in the early stages, but I think we have had a great beginning,” he said.
At the national level, Prime Minister Mark Carney committed himself to his campaign platform to make Canada a “world leader“In carbon elimination and kidnapping. And although the United States has previously been a world heavyweight In support of carbon elimination, under the Trump administration, financing seems to be in Limbo and several companies with operations south of the border are Cutting staff.
Some believe that uncertainty south of the border opens a window of opportunity for Canada to become the new seedbed for carbon elimination.
“We can see a path through which [investment] The capital that would otherwise be deployed in the US.
Economy a challenge
But as with any type of clean technology, a continuous challenge is to discover who will pay it.
Deep Sky is not selling carbon removal facilities itself. On the other hand, it eliminates carbon from the air itself and produces carbon loans, which companies can buy to achieve certain environmental objectives.
The company has sold its first credits to RBC and Microsoft Through an agreement that will eliminate 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for a period of 10 years.
Deep Sky would not say exactly what these credits cost, but in a recent report, the investment bank Jefferies said that one of the challenges facing the industry as a whole is that “the carbon elimination credits are exorbitantly expensive“
Another risk, said Jefferies analysts, is the demand concentration. Microsoft, the company that was one of Deep Sky’s initial buyers, is responsible for much of the carbon elimination loans that have been bought so far.
Tim Bushman, Director of Policy and Research of the Carbon Remival Canada Industrial Group, says in this country, just over a dozen companies have bought loans from carbon elimination projects.
“It has been a bit slow,” Bushman said, although he believes that Canadian companies are more likely to support national projects, demand will resume as more carbon elimination projects are completed in this country.
There are ongoing efforts to underpin the demand for these credits. Whittingham, the environmental policy consultant, is working on a “Advanced Market Commitment“Initiative: Make companies join and commit to buy carbon elimination loans from projects that are still under development.
“That then allows carbon elimination project developers to obtain their projects on the final obstacle of the investment decision,” he said.
With a staggering economy On the edge of the recessionCompanies may be less likely to pay carbon elimination credits. Instead, they can be looking for cheaper ways to reduce their emissions, or they can let their environmental initiatives fall completely.
“When the markets are bad, people are less likely to voluntarily pay additional costs to indicate good behavior,” said Warren Mabee, director of the Institute of the University of La Reina for energy and environmental policy.
Damien Steel, CEO of the Deep Sky carbon elimination project, says he is optimistic about the future of the industry despite the winds against the winds against.
‘I have faith’
Steel, the Deep Sky CEO, believes there are solutions for all those problems.
Carbon elimination can be expensive now, he says, but as technology develops, these costs will decrease. Deep Sky also benefits from a federal Fiscal credit That will help build your first commercial projects.
Innisfail’s site, he said, will begin to capture and kidnap carbon at the end of this summer. And once the winning technologies are chosen, the company plans to continue managing the test site for a total of 20 years.
While some companies have been publicly withdrawing from their climatic commitmentsSteel believes that behind the scene, CEO still realizes that the weather has a long -term risk for their business and are willing to invest in solutions.
“I have faith that at the end of the day, human beings usually really care about our future,” Steel said.
