CEO of Huron Clean Energy, Michael Hutchison, at a media event announcing a large-scale commercial facility in Canada to produce fuel from air. Photo credit – carbonengineering.com/
MERRITT – Canadian clean energy company, Huron Clean Energy (Huron) with its partners, The Upper Nicola Band, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Carbon Engineering (CE), announced that preliminary engineering and design has begun on a large-scale, commercial facility in British Columbia that would produce transportation fuel out of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The proposed facility is being designed to utilize CE’s Direct Air Capture and AIR TO FUELS™ technologies to capture carbon dioxide out of the air and deliver up to 100 million litres of ultra-low carbon fuel each year.
“Our vision at Huron is to inspire a global shift towards preserving the planet, and we hope to realize this through the deployment of CE’s game-changing technology across Canada. This will be pure Canadian innovation. In cooperation with First Nations partners, CE and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, we will leverage the expertise of both Occidental and Huron to deliver facilities that will bring significant emissions reductions and environmental benefits. They will also lead to the development of new Canadian industries and thousands of Canadian jobs,” said Michael Hutchison, President of Huron.
Powered by BC’s clean hydroelectricity, the plant will combine atmospheric carbon dioxide with hydrogen to produce renewable fuel, such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. These fuels create up to 90 per cent fewer emissions than conventional hydrocarbons and work in existing airplanes, ships, trucks and cars without the need to modify the vehicles.
The AIR TO FUELS™ solution provides a pathway to significantly reduce transportation emissions. These fuels can be an important complement to electric vehicles by providing a clean liquid fuel for transport sectors that are difficult to electrify and today require the high energy density of liquid fuels, such as aviation and shipping.
Chief Harvey McLeod of the Upper Nicola Band said, “Upper Nicola is excited to partner on this innovative development and we are honoured to play a role in implementing new technology to lower emissions and tackle climate change. Through UNHLP, we have been quietly advancing other clean energy development on our Reserve lands and this project aligns perfectly with our Community and Economic priorities.”
The facility is slated to be built 25kms from Merritt, on one of Upper Nicola Band’s eight reserves. The plant is expected to occupy approximately 100 acres of commercially designated band land, and Huron has partnered with Upper Nicola Holdings Limited Partnership (UNHLP) on a land and business participation agreement. Huron intends to partner with Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Occidental, as Huron’s execution and operations partner on the project. Construction is expected to begin in 2023 with operations targeted to commence approximately three years after that.
The partners have commenced a preliminary feasibility engineering and design study on the AIR TO FUELS™ facility. The BC Government’s Innovative Clean Energy Fund is contributing $2 million in funding to the initial design work, demonstrating the Province’s continuing support for home-grown cleantech innovations.
CE’s proprietary technology was conceived and designed in Canada. As part of the project evaluation, the federal government, through the Strategic Innovation Fund, is evaluating the project and tracking the engineering work closely. As an initial investor in the demonstration plant in Squamish, the federal government is keen to determine the best path to deploy the technology in Canada. The proposed project is expected to create thousands of local jobs during construction and hundreds of high-quality jobs for the ongoing operation of the facility.
Steve Oldham, CEO of CE said, “Carbon Engineering’s climate solutions were developed here at home in Canada, with BC providing the ideal location for our company to innovate and grow. I couldn’t think of a more fitting location for the proposed development of our first commercial AIR TO FUELS™ plant. Our Canadian-made solutions have the potential to be key tools in the efforts to achieve the Province’s CleanBC and Canada’s net zero goals, and we’re grateful for the BC Government’s continued support and commitment to the low-carbon transition.”
With a target production capability of up to 100 million litres of fuel each year, the project is expected to make a significant contribution to the BC Government’s CleanBC target of 650 million litres of renewable and low-carbon fuel production by 2030. The project is also expected to create demand for up to 25,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually, representing Canada’s largest green hydrogen project announced to date – a clear demonstration of BC’s Hydrogen Strategy in action.
Huron has appointed Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd., a member of the Macquarie Group of companies, and Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance Inc., the corporate finance arm of EY LLP, as co-financial advisors in connection with the commercialization and financing of the project.