The federal government has announced more than $21.5 million in funding for carbon capture and storage technologies in Alberta, including diesel engine carbon capture startup OCCAM’s Technologies.
“Our initial focus is on engines that emit between five and 30 tonnes of CO2 per day, with the goal of scaling the technology for broader adoption.”
Matthew Henderson
OCCAM’s Technologies
Natural Resources Canada (NRC), through its Energy Innovation Program, has selected five companies to advance carbon capture and storage projects through a call for proposals. Other recipients include Enbridge, Enhance Energy, OptiSeis Solutions, and Bow Valley Technologies.
“We are moving rapidly to secure [Canada’s] rightful place as a conventional and clean energy superpower,” Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Timothy Hodgson said at the Cochrane Natural Gas Extraction Plant.
The funding is part of a $319-million, seven-year commitment toward carbon capture research and commercialization first announced in Budget 2021.
Nisku, Alta.- based OCCAM’s Technologies was awarded $2 million for the development of modified diesel fuel engines to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) before it’s emitted into the air. The company says this approach could eventually help decarbonize diesel-reliant industries such as rail transport, marine shipping, and heavy-duty trucking. For now, it’s targeting large, stationary engines for on-site power generation.
“Our initial focus is on engines that emit between five and 30 tonnes of CO2 per day, with the goal of scaling the technology for broader adoption,” founder and CEO Matthew Henderson said in a statement.
Henderson told BetaKit that the project will help decarbonize the activities of a specific oil and gas service partner, which he did not disclose. OCCAM’s Technologies aims to capture at least 90 percent of emissions from its clients’ diesel engines, and is also developing hydrocarbon fuel cells for more efficient power generation. The startup closed its first funding round of $350,000 by working with Prairie-based organization Startup TNT.
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A large portion of the NRC funding envelope is going toward oil and gas companies looking to offset their carbon emissions. The largest funding amount, $10 million, is going to Bow Valley Technologies, a partnership between petroleum company Inter Pipeline and Entropy, a subsidiary of oil and gas company Advantage Energy.
The project aims to capture 40,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year from the Cochrane Extraction Plant and store it underground. The Cochrane plant emitted 468,990 tonnes of greenhouse gas in 2023, according to the federal government’s sustainability report.
Oil and gas giant Enbridge is receiving $4 million to study deep saline reservoirs for its open-access Wabamun Hub, which aims to provide CO2 transportation and storage.
Carbon management company Enhance Energy is receiving $5 million to expand its open-access CO2 sequestration hub, the Origins Project, to eventually store up to 20 million tonnes of CO2 per year. OptiSeis Solutions was awarded $538,000 to study technologies for measuring and monitoring underground carbon storage.
Carbon capture and storage has emerged as a hot topic in Alberta as the government and conventional energy industry see it as a way to mitigate carbon emissions. Cleantech startup Deep Sky just finished building Deep Sky Alpha, its pilot facility to capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it underground. It aims to eliminate 3,000 tonnes of CO2 from the air annually.
Deep Sky’s chief commercial and scientific officer, Phil de Luna, told BetaKit that 10 billion tons of CO2 would need to be removed from the atmosphere per year by 2050 to reverse the effects of climate change.
Feature image courtesy Timothy Hodgson via LinkedIn.