Direct air capture (DAC) may end up playing a critical role in our climate toolbox — but if we give up on the technology now, we will never know.
On Monday, Premier Danielle Smith referred to DAC as a potential last mile for addressing carbon emissions. This was promising, given recent news such as Swiss DAC company Climeworks having its first major layoff following the United States pulling back on climate commitments.
With Alberta’s DAC industry growing, here is why DAC needs more investment, not less: Reducing emissions is not enough. We must also take action to remove the emissions already in the atmosphere and address the hardest-to-abate sectors. Society has yet to bring emissions down significantly, which adds to the urgency.
As we seek more international investment, positioning Alberta as a global leader in DAC will unlock environmental benefits and substantial economic benefits.
By NASA’s estimate, carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for up to 1,000 years. Given the billions of tonnes of historical emissions already in the atmosphere, scaling carbon removal to remove this accumulation is necessary to make a tangible difference.
As such, permanent carbon removal, or the act of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere and storing it safely for 1,000 years or more, is a necessary technology to address historical carbon emissions.
Novel carbon removal technologies like DAC were developed in response to today’s climate crisis. When companies buy carbon removal credits, they are supporting the development of new climate solutions. Currently, with DAC technologies still undergoing research and development, we need to keep thinking big.
We want these companies to continue testing and learning what does and does not work today, so that carbon removal technologies can play a meaningful role in drawing down CO2 in the years ahead. Getting a first of its kind technology off the ground is difficult.
Consider solar power. What many people do not realize is that electricity from solar was first observed in 1839 and the first actual use of solar power — in a NASA satellite, no less — did not take place until 1958. However, it was only in the 2000s that we started to see mainstream pickup of solar panels thanks to supportive government policies like the American Solar Investment Tax Credit introduced in 2006. Since then, costs have also gone down significantly.
Likewise, it might take decades for technologies like DAC to pull the billions of tonnes of carbon out of the air that we need. If we want these technologies to succeed sooner, we must make it easier to test new ideas.
Thankfully, Canada is making progress in carbon removal already. In 2024, a Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Investment Tax Credit (CCUS ITC)that benefits new DAC projects was passed, which has drawn international investment attention to Canada. Alberta has since announced the Alberta Carbon Capture Incentive Program (ACCIP), which will provide an additional 12% top-up to the federal ITC, making Alberta a destination of choice for project developers.
Earlier this year, the federal government also announced a draft federal DAC protocol that would allow developers to generate federal offset credits, and last year announced a $10 million investment in carbon removal as part of its Low-carbon Fuel Procurement Program.
Carbon removal companies are already interested in Canada because it has the world’s second largest land mass, an abundance of geologic storage for safely storing CO2, clean energy, a business-friendly environment, and a skilled workforce ready to build large infrastructure. Carbon Removal Canada’s research estimates the sector could create 89,000 jobs and add $140B to our GDP by midcentury.
If we can prove that other carbon removal methods are more effective — whether that is adding minerals to the ocean to de-acidify it, applying ground up minerals to soil to enrich its health, or storing CO2 in mineral form — then sure, we can be less bullish about DAC.
But we won’t know what works unless we try all of the solutions being developed. Until then, we should invest in the scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs trying to find solutions.
Na’im Merchant is the Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada. Carbon Removal Canada is an independent non-profit accelerating the responsible scale-up of carbon removal technologies, and Canada’s status as a world leader in carbon removal, through advocacy, convening the sector, and developing insightful research to create measurable change.
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