Deep Sky to Build Carbon Removal Innovation Center in Alberta

Carbon removal project firm Deep Sky is building a carbon removal innovation and commercialization center in Innisfail, Alberta.

The Canadian company said in a news release that Deep Sky Labs will be the world’s first such facility. Deep Sky Labs’ mission is to accelerate the path to low cost, low energy intensity and highly scalable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to produce high integrity carbon credits.

The project represents an industry first for the private development of scalable CDR, the first cross-technology project in the world, and the first commercial direct air capture project in Canada, Deep Sky said.

Engineering and design work has been conducted in partnership with engineering firm BBA, and construction will begin soon, according to the release. The facility will be operational this winter, and will have the capacity to capture 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 30,000 tons over a 10-year period, via up to 10 different technologies. It also includes room for future expansion.

The facility will allow many different Direct Air Capture (DAC) concepts to be tested simultaneously. Its tech-agnostic nature decreases delivery and operational risks while increasing the speed at which the industry can scale, solving for the delivery delays that have plagued past global carbon removal projects, Deep Sky said.

To start, eight state-of-the-art DAC technologies will be deployed at the facility, sitting side-by-side with standardized instrumentation for the collection of operational data, according to the release. The eight technologies will have full access to renewable power and carbon storage, enabling a life cycle analysis to ultimately produce verified carbon removal credits validated by third-party carbon registries. The DAC providers include Airhive, Avnos, Phlair (formerly Carbon Atlantis), Greenlyte Carbon Technologies, Mission Zero, NEG8 Carbon, Skyrenu, and Skytree.

“I cannot overstate the significance of the world’s first carbon removal innovation and commercialization center, and what this means for Canada and our planet at large,” Deep Sky CEO Damien Steel said. “This project represents a world first and serves as a testing ground from which the nascent industry can grow into Canada’s multi-trillion-dollar enterprise. We’re in the business of scaling carbon removals, and this first facility represents a giant step forward for the health of our planet and our economy. Prioritizing quality and speed, we’re proud that this facility went from concept to construction in less than a year”.

The CO2 collected at Labs will be trucked to an existing well at the Meadowbrook Carbon Storage Hub facility operated by Deep Sky’s storage partner Bison Low Carbon Ventures, north of Edmonton in Sturgeon County. Bison is advancing the Meadowbrook project through the regulatory approval process and has a dedicated injection well capable of handling all Labs volume, the release said.

“The Town of Innisfail is thrilled to work with Deep Sky and welcomes them to our community,” Innisfail Mayor Jean Barclay said. “To have a company of this magnitude who is on the leading edge of carbon removal technology located in Innisfail is truly exciting for us. The selection of Innisfail by Deep Sky speaks volumes to our business readiness, our willingness to respond at a pace that is necessary in today’s business environment, and our vision for a new state-of-the-art industrial park”.

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