In a world-first, Virgin Red enables members to spend loyalty points to support Carbon Engineering’s carbon removal solution
SQUAMISH, British Columbia (November 18, 2020) – Today, the Virgin Group launched its new rewards club, Virgin Red, on an exclusive, invitation-only basis. In a world-first for a loyalty programme, Virgin Red has included an option for members to directly support the development of an emerging climate change solution – Direct Air Capture (DAC). Carbon Engineering’s (CE) DAC technology is a key solution that can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at large scale. As part of the launch, CE was announced as Virgin Red’s partner, a move that means Virgin Red members can spend their Virgin Points to directly support the advancement of this critical technology.
Virgin Red plans to evolve the programme and launch without an invitation early next year. Initially, the programme offers Virgin Red members the opportunity to spend points to support CE’s innovation activities to improve and optimize the technology. In the future, the intention is to enable members to spend Virgin Points to facilitate the permanent removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Speaking on the launch, Kelly Best, Virgin Red’s Chief Marketing Officer, said, “We are delighted to be partnering with Carbon Engineering and giving our members the opportunity to use their points for good. Virgin Red has been built by understanding what our members need, want and love and building a club that revolves around them. Our members can use their points on everyday treats, extraordinary Virgin experiences and good causes close to their hearts, including game-changing carbon removal technologies – with points that never expire.
“Virgin Red exists to reward and recognise its members – so we will always listen to them to ensure we evolve based on what our members tell us they want as well as responding to the challenges everyone is facing at the moment – to ensure our rewards stay relevant no matter what the future may hold.”
CE’s CEO, Steve Oldham, said, “We’re thrilled to announce this partnership with Virgin Red. We’ve spent the past decade developing a DAC technology that can remove millions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere so it can have the largest possible impact on climate change. The industrial scale of our technology means that, to date, we have mostly worked with large companies and governments that have experience with projects of this size. However, it has always been our ambition to find a way for individuals to get involved as well.
“That’s where Virgin Red comes in. It’s a game-changer to be working with such an iconic, global brand to bring large-scale carbon removal to individuals. Our whole team is excited to welcome Virgin Red members into the fold and invite them to join us in becoming carbon removal leaders. Our hope is that together we can signal to the world the strong support and demand for Direct Air Capture solutions like ours, and help kickstart the carbon removal industry into reality.”
Virgin Red’s rewards club celebrates its members for living a life more Virgin – giving them exclusive access to rewards from the Virgin group and beyond. Virgin Red makes it easy for members to earn and spend Virgin Points – the universal Virgin currency which was launched in September and never expires. Virgin Red encourages its members to spend points as much as it encourages them to earn them. Members can earn and spend on the everyday to the extraordinary, and Virgin Red allows its members to support good causes including small businesses, local and national charities and CE’s carbon removal solution using their Virgin Points. More information on Virgin Red can be found here.
# # #
About Virgin Red:
Virgin Red, which launched in 2020, is Virgin’s new rewards club. It’s the red thread connecting the Virgin family where members can earn on the everyday to save for the extraordinary. Virgin Red also makes it easy to support local communities, charities and the environment.
Virgin Red celebrates its members for living a life more Virgin – giving them exclusive access to rewards from the Virgin family and beyond. Virgin Red makes it really easy for members to earn and spend Virgin Points – Virgin’s universal currency which never expires. More information can be found here.
About CE:
Founded in 2009, CE is a Canadian-based clean energy company focused on the deployment of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology that captures carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the atmosphere so it can be permanently stored deep underground or used to produce clean, affordable transportation fuels. From a pilot plant in Squamish, British Columbia, CE has been removing CO2 from the atmosphere since 2015 and converting it into fuels since 2017. Today, with its partner 1PointFive, CE is engineering a commercial scale DAC facility that will capture one million tons of CO2 per year, equivalent to the work of 40 million trees.
