Airbus, Air Canada invest in Canadian climate solutions firm
Carbon Engineering's technology pulls carbon dioxide directly out of the air at large, industrial scale
Air Canada has announced an equity investment/loan of $6.75 million in Canadian climate solutions company Carbon Engineering (CE).
"The investment supports the advancement of CE's Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology that pulls carbon dioxide (CO2) directly out of the air at large, industrial scale," says a statement from Air Canada.
Under its Climate Action Plan, Air Canada has committed to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. "To help achieve this goal, the company created a $50 million investment fund to support new technologies. The $6.75 million being invested in CE comes from this fund and follows on an earlier announcement by Air Canada that it is investing $5 million in Heart Aerospace, a Swedish company developing electric hybrid aircraft."
The DAC process uses large fans to pull in air and then, through a series of processes, extracts CO2 while returning the other air components to the environment, according to CE. The captured atmospheric CO2 can be used to reduce aviation emissions by producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that can be drop-in compatible with today's aircraft. The captured CO2 can also be safely and durably stored in geologic reservoirs to provide carbon dioxide removals that can be used to offset GHG emissions, the release added.
"We remain focused on seeking innovative, long-term, sustainable GHG emissions reduction solutions for aviation, and carbon capture is one we have outlined in our strategy to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050," says Michael Rousseau, President & Chief Executive Officer, Air Canada. "Last year, we became the first Canadian airline to sign a MoU with CE to explore carbon capture scalability and other initiatives for our industry. We are proud to invest in CE to further advance new, transformational technologies towards carbon removal commercially."
Airbus invests in CE
Airbus has also made an undisclosed investment in CE, and the investment will contribute to funding part of CE's advanced direct air capture R&D technologies at the company's Innovation Centre in Squamish, B.C., Canada.
"Carbon Engineering's Direct Air Capture technology provides a scalable, affordable solution to decarbonize aviation," says Daniel Friedmann, CEO, Carbon Engineering. "We are thankful to Airbus for taking action and continuing to lead the way by helping accelerate solutions for the industry and for the climate."
Karine Guenan, VP ZEROe Ecosystem, Airbus adds: "We are proud to be investing in Carbon Engineering, reaffirming our commitment to the use of direct air carbon capture as a two-fold solution for the decarbonisation of the aviation industry."