INNISFAIL — A new cutting-edge facility in Alberta is positioning Canada at the forefront of carbon removal innovation.Deep Sky Alpha, located near Innisfail, has opened as the world’s first site to test multiple direct air capture (DAC) technologies side by side under real-world conditions.While large carbon capture plants have already been in operation in places such as Iceland since 2021, Deep Sky says its facility is unique in offering a head-to-head comparison of competing DAC systems, with each system designed to pull carbon dioxide directly from the air.The various systems employed rely on different types of sorbents — materials that act like sponges to absorb and later release CO₂.“The best way to think about the sorbent is as a sponge,” Deep Sky CEO Alex Petre told the Western Standard.“Some of our systems use solid sponges, others use liquids. Each works differently, using temperature, pressure, or even electric current, but they all achieve the same goal — capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere and releasing it in pure form for storage.”The Innisfail site can capture up to 3,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, with space to expand as more partners join the project.In comparison, Iceland’s Orca facility, operated by Climeworks, captures about 4,000 tonnes annually, while its upcoming Mammoth plant aims for 36,000 tonnes using a single technology..Deep Sky Alpha will eventually operate up to 10 competing DAC systems, testing how each performs through Alberta’s temperature swings, dry air, and long winters.Captured carbon from Deep Sky Alpha will be trucked roughly 200 kilometres north to Sturgeon County, where it will be injected more than two kilometres underground at the Meadowbrook carbon storage hub — the first project approved under Alberta’s new open-access carbon sequestration system.The collected data will help determine which technologies are most suitable for expanding the operation.The Alberta government has invested $5 million in the project through Emissions Reduction Alberta, which is funded by the industry-backed Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program.Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz said in June that the project fits Alberta’s approach to emissions management.Petre said Alberta was a “natural choice” because it is one of only three Canadian provinces — along with British Columbia and Saskatchewan — that have regulations for long-term CO₂ storage.“We chose Alberta because not only do they have long-term CO₂ storage, but they also have a labour force that is very well equipped and very well trained to do this, as well as an environment that is very attractive for these kinds of projects,” Petre said.“We chose Innisfail because this community is very excited about bringing clean tech right here. This industrial park we are in actually has a variety of these kinds of technologies. The community has been really supportive and really excited to have us here.”Deep Sky’s business model has been to licence DAC technologies, manufacture the capture units at scale, and sell verified carbon removal credits to companies offsetting emissions.The company has drawn support from international backers including Microsoft, RBC, and Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a fund led by Bill Gates, which has committed $40 million..Construction of the Innisfail facility created over 110 jobs and will support 15 permanent operational roles.Deep Sky estimates that over the next decade, the project could generate $110 million in local investment.Petre said the facility has been operational for just over a month and that “everything is going well.”“I think we have been very lucky to have a lot of very supportive vendors that are working alongside us to make this a success,” she said.“So we started with only a handful, but now additional units are coming online, and so we're chugging along very nicely towards having a fully operational site with additional units as well.”The company plans to expand its footprint across Canada, envisioning up to 100 large-scale plants nationwide. Each could employ about 1,000 workers during construction and 150 once operational.Deep Sky’s next projects include a commercial-scale facility in Manitoba and a CO₂ mineralization project in Quebec, where the process would use saline aquifers.Petre said global conditions make Canada well-positioned to become a leader in carbon removal going forward.“The U.S. used to be a leader in this space... I think that is no longer the case. We see a large amount of interest right now in relocating a lot of those businesses to Canada, which we find very exciting,” she said.“The geology that we’ve been so blessed with, that gave us our energy industry, is the same geology that lets us inject CO₂ underground and produce carbon credits,” she said.Petre added that stable regulation will be key to sustaining investment in the future.“We built this facility in just 12 months. Imagine what we could do with decades of regulatory stability.”
