Investment in Carbon Engineering will progress technologies that can help Canada realize its economic and environmental goals, while providing low carbon fuels to consumers.
SQUAMISH, British Columbia (June 25, 2019) – The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, today announced an investment of CAN$25 million in Carbon Engineering Ltd. (CE), a Canadian clean energy company that is pioneering technologies to capture and reuse carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. This announcement highlights Canada’s continuing support for home-grown cleantech innovations and signifies the government’s commitment to deploy technologies that support the transition to a low carbon economy. It follows the company’s recently completed private investment round of CAN$91 million.
As part of driving a clean-growth economy, this funding will help progress the commercialization of CE’s two clean energy technologies that have been successfully developed and demonstrated at the company’s headquarters in Squamish, British Columbia. CE’s Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology can remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere for use or storage; and its complementary AIR TO FUELS™ technology produces ultra-low carbon intensity fuels out of captured atmospheric CO2, water, and clean electricity. These fuels are cleaner burning than fossil fuels and can power existing cars, trucks, ships, and airplanes without any modifications.
With this funding, CE will design, construct and operate the Newport Innovation Centre in Squamish, British Columbia, which will include an Advanced Development Facility and a fully integrated DAC and AIR TO FUELS™ plant. This plant will be capable of capturing 4.5 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere and capable of producing at least 320 Litres of ultra-low carbon fuel each day. This facility will be a model for how this air treatment infrastructure can be deployed both nationally and internationally.
“Our government’s investment in Carbon Engineering is a commitment to an innovative economy and to a sector that offers tremendous promise,” said The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. “Canadian ingenuity is at work to find solutions to one of the world’s most pressing challenges, climate change. We are creating good middle-class jobs and positioning Canada at the forefront of the growing field of clean technologies.”
“I am proud that our government supports a Canadian company working to develop technologies to address climate change,” said The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. “Our workers right here in Squamish will benefit from these well-paying middle-class jobs, while contributing to their community.”
“With an increasing focus worldwide on the need to transition to a low carbon economy, companies that provide cost-effective and scalable solutions for lowering carbon levels will be leaders in an emerging global economy,” said Steve Oldham, CEO of CE. “CE’s air treatment technologies have the potential to realize significant Greenhouse Gas reductions, create jobs and investment in Canadian projects, and deliver clean fuels to consumers. We are grateful for this support as we work to commercialize our technology and cement our position as a world leader in this field.”
CE will continue with core research and development activities, and begin the design and engineering of the company’s full scale commercial plants. Each commercial DAC plant will be capable of capturing one megatonne of CO2 per year, and each commercial AIR TO FUELS™ plant will have the capacity to produce more than 100 million Litres of clean fuel each year.
This investment is being made through the Strategic Innovation Fund, a program designed to spur innovation for a better Canada through high-quality business investments that encourage R&D and the commercialization of innovative products, processes and services. It builds on the support shown to CE from Canadian Provincial and Federal Government agencies, including Natural Resources Canada, the B.C. Innovative Clean Energy Fund, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, Emissions Reduction Alberta, NRC-IRAP, and WINN.
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About the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF):
The Strategic Innovation Fund’s objective is to spur innovation for a better Canada and will attract and support new high-quality business investments. In allocating this funding, SIF will look to accelerate areas of economic strength, strengthen and expand the role of Canadian firms in regional and global supply chains, support economic strategies, and attract investment that creates new, good, well-paying jobs. The program is part of the Innovation and Skills Plan — the Government’s way to create jobs and strengthen the middle class by helping Canada’s highly skilled workforce develop the skills they need to evolve and keep up with the demands of a changing workplace.
About Carbon Engineering (CE):
Founded in 2009, CE is a Canadian-based clean energy company leading the commercialization of groundbreaking DAC technology that captures CO2 directly from the atmosphere, and a second technology that synthesizes it into clean, affordable transportation fuels. From a pilot plant in Squamish, B.C., CE has been removing CO2 from the atmosphere since 2015 and converting it into fuels since 2017. CE is privately owned and is funded by investment or commitments from private investors and government agencies. CE’s investors include Bill Gates, Murray Edwards, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, LLC, Chevron Technology Ventures, and BHP.
