Shopify becomes Canadian firm's first customer for its carbon dioxide removal service

Mar 9 2021, 7:01 pm

After completing successful pilot projects in BC over the past few years, Carbon Engineering is pushing forward with its carbon dioxide removal business of allowing customers to purchase the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The launch of the business was also accompanied by the announcement that Shopify has signed on as CE’s first customer, with its reservation of 10,000 tonnes of permanent carbon removal capacity from an upcoming large-scale, industrial-sized direct air capture facility.

US firm 1PointFive is CE’s development partner for this first facility that will become operational by 2024.

“Carbon Engineering’s mission has always been to deliver a highly scalable and affordable solution for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Steve Oldham, the CEO of CE, in a statement.

“We’re on the brink of large-scale deployment of our technology and the next critical step is accumulating market interest and securing customers. This new service allows us to do that. It also makes it easy for companies and governments to include permanent carbon removal in their net-zero plans. We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with Shopify and welcome them as our first carbon removal customer, and we look forward to supporting others so we can collectively make large-scale carbon removal a reality.”

The global e-commerce giant’s acquisition is also the largest publicly announced corporate purchase of DAC-based carbon renewal.

“Shopify is on a mission to make commerce better for everyone, and to help make a low-carbon future a reality,” said Stacy Kauk, director of Shopify’s Sustainability Fund.

“We’re Carbon Engineering’s first customer because we recognize the need to go beyond emissions reductions. Our commitment to this new carbon dioxide removal service is not powerful enough on its own—we need others to join Shopify’s efforts, in any capacity, to catalyze this frontier large-scale DAC technology.”

CE’s new business allows anyone to purchase carbon removal units in quantities as small as 100 units, but there are discounts available for purchasing higher volumes.

The Squamish-based company developed technology that captures carbon dioxide to convert the gas into usable fuels received a significant financial infusion from the federal government on Tuesday for their promising results.

Carbon dioxide captured by the DAC process can be permanently put back underground or converted into a cheap, ultra-low carbon fuel that is cleaner than traditional fossil fuels for powering cars, trucks, ships, and airplanes, without any modifications.

One other CE facility project is located in the UK, as a partnership with Pale Blue Dot Energy.

In June 2019, the Government of Canada announced $25 million in funding for CE to help the company grow its technology towards commercialization.

Kenneth ChanKenneth Chan

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