Climeworks brings its technology to Canada

The Zurich-based cleantech company Climeworks and the state-funded cleantech company Deep Sky from Montreal in the Canadian province of Quebec want to take the next step to scale up together. According to a statement, the two companies will explore the development of large-scale projects for the direct capture and storage of CO2 from the air (Direct Air Capture and Storage, DAC+S) in Canada. The initial goal is to remove up to one million tons of CO2 from the air annually, with the target to install the first plant before 2030.

Climeworks describes the partnership as “a critical milestone” for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies that must be reached “before further scaling to gigaton capacity”. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), CDR solutions need to remove an estimated 3 to 12 gigatons of CO2 every year by 2050 if the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Agreement is to be achieved. With Orca in Iceland, Climeworks is the world's first and currently only CDR company to operate a large-scale commercial DAC+S plant.

Climeworks continues that the collaboration with Deep Sky sits in the broader context of Canada's favorable policy environment for these technologies. In the words of Climeworks' Chief Development Officer Daniel Nathan, it “marks a new chapter in Climeworks' rapid deployment journey as we solidify our global carbon removal leadership position. Canada's rich, clean energy resources will be catalytic in our endeavor to bring our proven, high-quality solution to the country, starting with the collaboration with Deep Sky." ce/mm