Carbon Engineering, a Calgary-based industrial-scale air capture company has been named as a finalist for the US$25 million Virgin Earth Challenge, spearheaded by Sir Richard Branson and Al Gore. The 10-employee company is led by David Keith (President), a former University of Calgary and current Harvard University professor. The company is also backed financially by Bill Gates and Murray Edwards.
The Virgin Earth Challenge is a competition to find commercially viable designs to permanently remove greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere. The competition, announced in 2007, received more than 2600 applications. The 11 finalists were named in November, 2011.
Carbon Engineering’s technology strategy is described as a “low-risk, chemical-based CO2 air capture system” which aims for large-scale and cost-effective air capture. The air capture itself is a closed-loop process which traps carbon dioxide directly from the air into a water-based solvent. Carbon Engineering suggests that in the long-term this technology could produce carbon neutral hydrocarbon fuel. It is the only Canadian company represented among the Challenge finalists.
