Harnessing rivers for carbon removal

TECH

Restoring rivers, removing carbon

Who knew throwing rocks in the river could help solve climate change?

CarbonRun secured a $25 million offtake agreement with Frontier for their river-based carbon removal solution. The Nova Scotia-based startup will repurpose a decades-old practice to remove 55,442 tonnes of CO2 between 2025 and 2029.

The tech: CarbonRun uses crushed limestone to capture carbon, accelerating a natural process. The company adds the limestone to acidic rivers polluted by human activity. As it dissolves, the limestone combines with atmospheric and soil carbon to form bicarbonate and other helpful minerals. The bicarbonate locks in CO2 and is then swept into the ocean for permanent storage.

In context: The practice, known as river liming, was used successfully to combat the effects of acid rain in the past. Clean Air legislation in the 1990s mitigated acid rain, but many rivers face water quality issues that impact ecosystems. For example, some organisms can't build shells in the acidic water. 

Why it matters: CarbonRun’s work is doing double duty. The practice draws down CO2 and generates carbon credits. This revenue stream can help fund important ecosystem restoration work that's been declining due to higher costs.  

Keys to scaling: Carbon removal is still in the early stages of development and most projects operate at a small scale. Key factors for scaling include energy input costs and feedstock access. CarbonRun's approach has a few advantages:

• Abundant limestone deposits that are already mined at scale

• Low energy inputs for crushed limestone

• Efficient removal, producing just 5 tonnes per 100 tonnes removes

CarbonRun estimates they can remove 10-15% of the carbon needed by 2050 by focusing on regions with large-scale, degraded river systems. 

What’s next: CarbonRun will begin deploying their solution in Nova Scotia, with the first payments from Frontier expected in 2025. The funding will support crucial data collection to optimize the process. The company also secured a $1 million R&D grant from Stripe to explore river liming in less acidic rivers, potentially enabling gigaton-level carbon removal.

CLIMATE CAPITAL

♻️ Cyclic Materials (Toronto, ON) closed a $71.2 million Series B funding for their rare earth recycling technology, led by ArcTern Ventures with corporate VCs from Hitachi, Microsoft and BMW. The funding will be used to build recycling infrastructure in the US and Europe.

💧 Ayrton Energy (Calgary, AB) landed $9.18 million in seed financing to advance its hydrogen delivery and storage solution led by Clean Energy Ventures and BDC Capital. Ayrton enables long-term storage and transport of hydrogen at room temperature by binding hydrogen with an oil-based carrier fluid. Ayrton plans to expand into hydrogen hubs in the U.S.

🔋 VRB Energy (Vancouver, BC) raised $55 million from Chinese investment firm Shanxi Red Sun to build vanadium flow batteries for long-duration energy storage in the U.S. and China.

🌬️ Elemental Energy (Vancouver, BC) secured a $118 million loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank for a 100 MW wind project in Nova Scotia. The project is expected to displace coal generation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 200,000 tonnes per year.

MILESTONES & PRODUCT

⚡️ Jetson launched their white-glove service to electrify home heating and cooling. Jetson was founded by ex-North co-founders Stephen Lake, Matthew Bailey, and Aaron Grant.

🏅 Aeon Blue, an electrofuel company, and MyCaro, which develops mycelium-based proteins from upcycled biomass, both joined Invest NS’s Accelerate cohort.

🚚 Mining equipment company MacLean Engineering will sell 30 battery electric heavy vehicles to Australia mining giant Fortescue.

💨 CO2 Lock partnered with Cielo Carbon Solutions on industrial carbon capture and storage projects.

🚙 Exro unveiled their partnership with Stellantis to integrate their adaptive Coil Driver that improves performance and efficiency of electric vehicle powertrains. The companies have been working together for more than a year under a NDA.

⛏️ Volt Lithium started producing lithium using their direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology in Texas.

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IN THE NEWS

📉 Canada should cut emissions in half by 2035 to pull its fair share on climate according to a government-appointed panel. The current target is a 45% reduction. The group also recommended adopting a carbon budget to quantify the amount of emissions Canada can emit while complying with the Paris Agreement. 

🔌 Quebec abruptly suspended its rebate program for heavy duty EVs. The program’s funding ran out faster than expected because of high demand and budget cuts to the program earlier this year. The surprise pause could set back EV adoption in the heavy duty sector and hit EV makers like Lion Electric.

🔥 2024 was the most destructive summer ever in Canada, and could shape where future generations live. Extreme weather caused more than $7 billion in insured losses from wildfires, flooding, and hail. According to OSFI head Peter Routledge, homes and businesses will likely see higher costs, or simply need to move.

🤝 Manitoba wants to partner with Indigenous governments on renewables. The province put forward a new energy plan that includes 600 MW of new wind power and exploring neighbourhood geothermal heating. Indigenous governments will be able to invest in the wind farm projects through a provincial loan-guarantee program.

💵 Scotiabank issued $1.25B Sustainability Notes, the largest sustainability-focused offering to date in Canada. The proceeds are allocated to “green” and “social” assets like low-carbon energy, green buildings, and adaptation. The notes are the first from a bank to include nuclear energy.

BIG PICTURE

Hurricane Helene could upend the global supply chain for microchips and solar panels

Global methane emissions are still growing

UK landlords will need to improve energy efficiency in their buildings

India plans to churn out SMRs to decarbonize industry

What role can AgTech play in reducing emissions? 

Ford wants to win over “fence-sitters” with home chargers

Shell and Equinor both cancelled plans to expand blue hydrogen due to a lack of demand

California sues ExxonMobil for a “campaign of deception” around plastic recycling

Bankers are starting to shift their focus to what happens if 1.5C is out of reach

COMMUNITY

🚀 MaRS Climate Impact Seed and Series A Pitch Competition: Looking to raise capital for your climate or cleantech venture? Join the Seed and Series A pitch competitions at the MaRS Climate Impact Conference. Apply by October 11th.

🗓️ Clean AI Summit: The first global summit dedicated to cleanAI. The full day program will feature top thinkers and industry leaders taking action in cleanAI. Toronto, October 4th.

➡️ Discover more climate events.

💻️ Ayrton Energy is hiring a Director of Business Development to help develop and execute the bizdev strategy for the first commercialization of Ayrton’s hydrogen storage technology.

➡️ Find more open roles.