“We arrive at the pivotal moment of technology” of capturing and storage of carbon dioxide in the air, says Deep Sky. The Montreal company specializing in the logistics of this ambitious and so far elected solution to combat climate change has just succeeded in a major breakthrough: Storing CO2 captured directly in the Albertan air.
Deep Sky has installed in the past year on its Innisfail site, Alberta, a capture solution developed by the Skyrenu Quebec company. It was this solution which allowed her to capture carbon dioxide that she then buried safely and permanently at “kilometers underground”.
It is a first North American first, a major breakthrough for Deep Sky, and an important step forward for this technological solution, capturing and storage of carbon, which has been promised on an industrial scale for decades by the Canadian oil sector.
The Carney government is also very strong on this formula to reduce the intense pollution generated by Albertaine oil exploitation, and thus improve the climate assessment of Canada. This is not particularly brilliant: Canada systematically fails to respect its own targets for reducing its air pollution.
The main cause of this repeated failure is the refusal of the petroleum sector to recognize its climate impact.
Objective 2050
Deep Sky has good news, therefore, that his vice-president, public policies and regulatory affairs, Mathieu Bouchard, tempers a bit.
We will not settle climate change with this single site, but it is the first place where we operate the whole chain at the same time. This is unique in the world.
Mathieu Bouchard, vice-president, public policies and regulatory affairs, in an interview with The press
Ultimately, the Innisfail site, called Deep Sky Alpha, will be able to withdraw 3000 tonnes of CO ambient air2 per year. It is a fraction of what Deep Sky intends to do to Thetford Mines, Quebec, where the company hopes to withdraw 500,000 tonnes of air carbon annually.
At least Deep Sky can say that his solution works. “We come to the flexion of this technology,” says Mathieu Bouchard. We must now go to sites capable of capturing and burying 1 million tonnes per year, and growing quickly after that. »»
Deep Sky leader quotes the most recent report of the Intergovernmental Experts Group on Climate Evolution (IPCC), which calculates that it would be necessary to eliminate 10 billion tonnes of CO2 By year at the latest in 2050 to minimize the impact of human activity on the earth’s climate. The IPCC has gone down a bit about the achievement of this objective, which seems less and less feasible.
Not Deep Sky. “You have to exponentially accelerate deployment. We have seen it happens in the production of solar and wind energy, which are other decarbonation technologies. This is what we hope to reproduce in the capture. »»
A question of costs
Deep Sky calculates that success involves a reduction below $ 200 of the cost of capturing and storing a ton of carbon. This cost is currently closer to $ 1,200.
What the company presents on its Deep Sky Alpha website is a modular approach, the elements of which can be produced at low cost, in the factory, and on a large scale.
“All this is happening,” says Mathieu Bouchard, who recalls that it only took Deep Sky to make a first capture on his Alberta site.
To date, Deep Sky has raised some $ 130 million in institutional and private investors, including Investissement Québec, the Royal Bank and the Breakthrough Energy Catalyst from the American billionaire Bill Gates.
Moreover, Microsoft, which Bill Gates has co -founded, is a buyer of carbon credits who indirectly finance Deep Sky. The purchase of credits on the carbon market can lead to the financing of future projects like that of Innisfail.
Deep Sky also prepares in a few months a round of series B financing, which would bring it closer to a real commercial launch of its activities.
All this, as well as the announced will of the Carney government to finance the capture and the storage of carbon, suggests Deep Sky that there is the future for its technological solution.
“We hope that the next federal budget will send the signal that invest in the capture of CO2 In Canada is a good idea, says Mathieu Bouchard. Our market is international, but as a Quebec business, we would prefer to continue to grow here. »»
