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The $78B Opportunity for Carbon Removal in Canada

Building Canada’s climate infrastructure.

Carbon removal is the ‘net’ in net-zero

Our atmosphere is like a bathtub that’s overflowing with carbon. Carbon removal technologies pull that carbon directly out of the air and store it away permanently. Climate experts agree it’s now essential to reaching net-zero, and financial experts project it could become a trillion dollar global market by 2050.

Carbon Removal

Think: Pulling the bathtub’s plug

What

Pulls carbon that is already in the air back out and locks it away for good.

Where

Carbon removal spans a range of technologies that can be set up almost anywhere: on farms, at mines, at pulp and paper mills, in rural towns, and beyond.

PURPOSE

Cancels out the residual emissions from industries we can’t yet clean up, and could one day start turning back the clock on climate change.

Carbon Capture

Think: Turning off the tap

What

Traps carbon dioxide at the smokestack before it ever reaches the sky.

Where

CCUS captures carbon at the source, so it’s installed directly on heavy emitters like cement plants, fertilizer facilities, or power stations.

PURPOSE

Prevents new emissions from escaping, keeping today’s carbon out of the atmosphere.

For Canada, carbon removal is an economic opportunity

Canada’s strengths in mining, forestry, agriculture, and energy position it to lead this emerging industry. It’s one that creates jobs, attracts investment, restores natural habitats, revitalizes rural economies, and helps solve climate change.

By 2050, a scaled carbon removal industry could lead to:

$78B

increase in economy-wide Canadian GDP.

>50%

cut to the marginal cost of reaching net-zero, with savings as early as 2035.

300K

jobs created and supported across the economy.

$23B

generated in government revenue annually across federal and provincial governments.

Net-Zero is Too Costly Without Carbon Removal

Without carbon removal technologies, cutting the hardest emissions in 2050 could cost over $1,000 per tonne. With it, the most expensive emissions would cost half that, at $433 per tonne. Canada would even see cost-savings start in 2035.

Canadians are asking for a solution that helps their industries compete, not fall behind

Farming
Mining
Forestry
Energy

The Future of Farming

Across Canada, farmers are adopting new innovations, spreading materials like crushed minerals and biochar that improve soil health and boost profits. These same materials help the soil pull more carbon from the atmosphere, generating carbon removal credits that farmers can sell for a new stream of revenue.

Benefits

Increase crop yields

Builds drought tolerance

Technologies

Enhanced Rock Weathering

Biochar

Mine Waste, Reimagined

Waste left behind by asbestos and nickel mining is naturally reactive with carbon dioxide. By exposing these tailings to carbon from the air, the carbon becomes permanently locked into the rock, neutralizing hazards in the waste while creating a new source of revenue for the communities that host these projects.

Benefits

Neutralize toxic mine tailings

Recover critical minerals

Technologies

Carbon Mineralization

Paper Mills that Remove Carbon

Pulp and paper mills already burn wood and plant material to power their operations. However, that process releases the carbon that the plants had previously removed from the air. Instead of letting it escape, mills can capture it and lock it away permanently underground. The result is carbon removed from the atmosphere, a new revenue stream for the mill, and a use for extra that woody material that would otherwise lay around and fuel the next wildfire.

Benefits

Reduce wildfire risk

Use for waste biomass

Technologies

Biochar

Biomass carbon removal and storage

Bioenergy with CCS

A Clean Energy Superpower

Canada can be an energy superpower by pairing power generation with carbon removal. The same facilities that generate electricity or produce fuels can pull carbon straight from the air, turning energy production into a tool that cleans up past emissions. It's a chance to lead the energy transition while giving Canadian workers skilled jobs that matter today and for generations to come.

Benefits

Generate clean fuels

Clean energy production

Technologies

Direct Air Capture

Bioenergy with CCS

Project snapshot

Innovation Centre

Carbon Engineering
Squamish, BC

At its Innovation Centre, scientists and engineers test, validate, and refine the materials and processes that make Direct Air Capture perform better and cost less, helping de-risk the technology and move it toward commercial scale.

Explore Further

Alpha

Deep Sky
Innisfail, Alberta

Alpha is an industry first for privately developed, scalable carbon removal, deploying many different DAC technologies simultaneously. This tech-agnostic approach lowers delivery and operational risks while speeding up how fast the industry can scale, solving the delays that plagued past projects.

Explore Further

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