B.C. facility aims to make vehicle fuel from carbon pulled out of the atmosphere
The B.C. government, a First Nation in the Interior and a pair of Squamish-based companies are working together on a project that they say could revolutionize the transportation industry by all but eliminating its carbon dioxide emissions.
The province is providing $2 million from its Innovative Clean Energy fund to support the engineering and design work for the project, which aims to be the world's first large-scale fuel production plant that uses carbon captured directly from the atmosphere.
Squamish-based Huron Clean Energy expects to build the commercial plant on Upper Nicola Band land near Merritt, B.C., and has entered into an equity partnership and land-lease agreement with the First Nation.
The facility - which is currently in the design phase, with construction slated to begin next year at the earliest - will use "direct air capture" technology developed by Carbon Engineering, another Squamish-based company.
When it's completed - something the project's backers hope will happen by 2025 - the plant will run on renewable energy from BC Hydro, which it will use to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Other Carbon Engineering projects remove the carbon and store it underground, but the proposed facility in the Interior will instead use more renewable electricity to electrolyze water, splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen.
The fuel plant will then recombine the hydrogen and the carbon dioxide to create hydrocarbons that can be used in place of traditional petroleum-based fuels.
According to the Carbon Engineering website, burning the synthetic fuels re-releases the carbon that was captured to make them, but adds no new emissions to the air. Beyond that, because the energy used to create the fuel is renewable, the fuels have an "ultra-low lifecycle carbon intensity."
"If we can make the fuel carbon neutral, our vehicles, our ships, our planes become carbon neutral," said Carbon Engineering CEO Steve Oldham at a news conference in Squamish on Thursday.
Oldham said the plant, once completed, would produce about 100 million litres of fuel annually - a substantial amount, but a tiny drop in the bucket compared to global oil consumption, estimated by the U.S. Energy Information Administration to be 97.47 million barrels of oil per day in 2021.
A barrel of oil contains approximately 159 litres, meaning global oil consumption is more than 15 billion litres per day, though only a fraction of that is refined into fuel.
Oldham and the other partners in the project who spoke Thursday said the Upper Nicola plant is the beginning, not the end goal.
"I'm confident that it will be successful," said Bruce Ralston, B.C.'s minister of energy, mines and low-carbon innovation.
"When it's successful, it will be something that can be replicated around the world. This is, really, genuinely, globally leading technology."
The province estimates that the facility will create 620 jobs during the design phase, 4,780 during construction and 340 long-term jobs associated with operating the plant.
Oldham and Huron Clean Energy CEO Michael Hutchison each expressed a desire to see more projects of this type constructed in the coming years, and a confidence that it would happen.
"The plant itself is a first of a kind that anybody in the world that has renewable energy can emulate," Hutchison said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air quality advisories issued in 5 provinces, 1 territory
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
Just how bad are ultraprocessed foods? Here are 5 things to know
Many foods fall under the category of ultraprocessed foods, depending on their exact ingredients. This type of food has been studied a lot lately, and the results aren’t great.
Steve Buscemi punched in the face while walking in N.Y.C.
Hollywood actor Steve Buscemi has been treated for injuries after being punched in the face while walking in New York City.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
opinion Harry and Meghan's Nigerian adventure: traditional attire to warm welcomes
For her latest column on CTVNews.ca, royal commentator Afua Hagan writes about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's recent visit to Nigeria, calling it a 'deeply meaningful campaign' that was about aligning their ongoing efforts to foster mental-health awareness and promoting the Invictus Games.
Ontario's need for nurses, PSWs to top 33K and 50K by 2032: document
Ontario will need 33,200 more nurses and 50,853 more personal support workers by 2032, the government projects — figures it tried to keep secret but were obtained by The Canadian Press.
Jerry Seinfeld speech prompts pro-Palestinian demonstration at U.S. university graduation ceremony
A tiny contingent of Duke University graduates opposed pro-Israel comedian Jerry Seinfeld speaking at their commencement in North Carolina Sunday, with about 30 of the 7,000 students leaving their seats and chanting "free Palestine" amid a mix of boos and cheers.
No concert ticket? No problem — Swifties can still gather at 'Taylgate' in Toronto
Whether you were lucky to nab tickets to one of Taylor Swift's six sold-out Toronto concerts in November or not, a new 'fan experience' hopes to get you into the party spirit.
Entangled North Atlantic right whale spotted in Gulf of St. Lawrence
An endangered North Atlantic right whale has been spotted with gear entangled around its mouth in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.