From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Grady Semmens

Deep Sky Alpha facility will trial technologies that suck CO2 from the sky

Innisfail, Alta. is set to host the world’s first test centre for technology that removes carbon dioxide directly from the air to fight climate change.

This June, Montreal-based Deep Sky completed construction of a $110-million carbon removal innovation and commercialization centre in the town about 120 kilometres north of Calgary.

It is a key piece of the company’s vision to build 100 large-scale facilities across Canada and become a pioneer in the emerging market for direct air capture (DAC) technology.

“As of this summer, we will begin not only carbon removal, which is actually sucking it out of the air through these very powerful fans, but also liquefying it and then putting it underground for storage,” Deep Sky CEO Alex Petre told CTV News.

Work began in August 2024 on the project known as Deep Sky Alpha, which aims to begin testing up to 10 different DAC technologies in real-world conditions. It is expected to be up and running this August.

The Government of Alberta is investing $5 million in the facility through Emissions Reduction Alberta.

The Deep Sky Alpha direct air capture test facility in Innisfail, Alta. Photo courtesy Deep Sky

Deep Sky’s facility will capture up to 3,000 tons of CO2 per year over the next 10 years, with room for future expansion.

Captured CO2 will be transported by tanker trucks about 200 kilometres north to Sturgeon County where it will be injected more than two kilometres below the surface into the Meadowbrook Carbon Storage Hub.

Operated by Bison Low Carbon Ventures, the project is the first approved under Alberta’s open-access carbon sequestration hub initiative and is expected to begin operations before year-end.

“We’re going to line up these eight units side by side and run them to see how they operate in the summer and in the cold of winter,” said Damien Steel, former Deep Sky CEO who continues to serve as a company advisor.

“We’ll be tracking everything to see how all these best-in-class technologies compare – what are their strengths and weaknesses – so that ultimately we can choose the best solutions to scale up for the major commercialization of carbon removal projects that are needed.”

Unlike typical carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects that scrub CO2 from the exhaust of heavy industrial facilities such as power plants, refineries, cement plants or steel mills, DAC utilizes different technology to remove much lower concentrations of CO2 directly from the atmosphere.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), there are 27 DAC plants operating worldwide, capturing almost 10,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. In order to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the IEA estimates DAC capacity must expand to more than 60 million tonnes per year by 2030.

Deep Sky selected Alberta for its test facility because of the province’s experience with CCS, including its advanced regulatory system for CO2 sequestration.

“To be successful at carbon removal you need three things: you need access to geologic storage, you need talent, and you need a reliable supply of renewable power to operate DAC facilities. Canada is blessed with these things, and Alberta especially has all of these attributes in spades,” Steel said.

Deep Sky Alpha is one of several clean tech projects underway in a five-acre industrial park in Innisfail as part of an economic diversification plan that was launched in 2022 to make the town a centre for energy innovation.

A municipal solar farm and a power plant that burns garbage and will be equipped with CCS to eliminate emissions are also under development.

Deep Sky says that more than 110 jobs were created during the construction phase of its Innisfail project and it will employ 15 people for annual operations.

Subsequent commercial plants it hopes to build across Canada will employ approximately 1,000 workers for construction and 150 for annual operations.

Steel said he expects the DAC test facility will become a destination for those looking to advance CCS projects around the world, showcasing Canadian expertise in the process.

“My hope is that not only will we learn and improve carbon removal technology, but we will also put Canada on the map in terms of being a place where innovation can thrive and this industry can work,” he said.

“It will be a place where corporate leaders, government officials and customers from around the world can come and see what direct air capture really is, how it works, and how Canada is the place to do it.”

From the National Citizens Coalition

By National Citizens Coalition Director Alexander Brown

“Danielle Smith is right, only the dropping of anti-resource laws can better position a Canada under continued tariff threat.”

As Canadians attempt to make sense of the latest negotiation salvo from south of the border, the Liberal government’s continued inaction on the oil and gas sector remains nothing short of self-sabotage.

The looming threat of a 35% tariff on Canadian goods exported to the United States — our largest trading partner by a country mile — underscores the urgent need for bold, decisive action. Yet, while the stakes couldn’t be higher, Mark Carney and his insider interests seem content with proclamations over putting pen to paper, and waiting until fall to really kickstart Canada’s recovery after a lost Liberal decade. It’s time for Carney’s unearned summer vacation to end, and for the Liberals to truly get serious about unleashing Canada’s energy potential to secure our economic future.

Continued tariff threats, which have escalated from earlier warnings, are a direct challenge to Canada’s economic stability. As Alberta Premier Danielle Smith astutely noted, “The threatened increase to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods would be a tax on the American people. They would also hurt Canadian and American businesses and workers, and damage one of the most important trading and security alliances on earth.” She’s absolutely right. These tariffs would not only strain the wallets of American consumers but also jeopardize the livelihoods of Canadians and the integrity of a trading partnership that has long been a cornerstone of North American prosperity.

Smith’s warning doesn’t stop there. She correctly points out that retaliatory tariffs, which the Liberals might be tempted to impose, would be a self-inflicted wound. “Retaliatory tariffs by the federal government to this escalation would constitute a tax on Canadian consumers and businesses and only weaken Canada’s economy further,” she said.

At a time of unprecedented costs, and with a missing middle struggling so mightily after failed Liberal decision after failed Liberal decision, the National Citizens Coalition, Canada’s pioneering conservative third-party advocate, couldn’t agree more. Piling burdensome taxes on Canadians to counter U.S. tariffs would only deepen the economic pain, hitting consumers and businesses already struggling under the weight of inflation and regulatory overreach.

The real solution lies not in tit-for-tat trade wars but in first strengthening Canada’s economic resilience. For too long, Trudeau-era anti-resource development laws — such as Bills C-69 and C-48 — have shackled our oil and gas sector, stifling investment, killing jobs, and leaving us dangerously dependent on a single export market: the United States. Meanwhile, governments in B.C. and Quebec have thrown up as many obstructions to Canadian prosperity as any American negotiation tactic of late.

This self-inflicted vulnerability is now glaringly exposed as tariff threats continue.

Premier Smith’s call to action is a clarion one: “The federal government must also immediately drop the Trudeau-era anti-resource development laws holding our economy back and work at all haste to approve multiple pipelines, rail expansions, and transmission lines going west, east, and north to diversify and grow our export markets around the world.” This isn’t just about dodging tariffs; it’s about seizing control of our economic destiny, and no longer working from a position of deliberate weakness.

Canada’s oil and gas sector is a global powerhouse, or at least it could be, if the Liberals and their anti-O&G allies would stop strangling it with red tape and ideological posturing. By repealing these disastrous laws and fast-tracking infrastructure like pipelines and rail expansions — without the need for a Bill C-5, which will pick more losers than winners — we can open new markets in Asia, Europe, and beyond, reducing our reliance on the U.S. and better shielding our economy from future trade disruptions. As Smith puts it, “We need to become an economically stronger and more independent country without further delay or excuse.”

The Liberals’ obsession with green, degrowth, net-zero dogma has left Canada vulnerable, forcing us to get cute with meek and meaningless elbow-related sloganeering, and to beg for scraps at the U.S. trade table. Meanwhile, our energy sector — the most ethical and efficient in the world — languishes under punitive regulations that do nothing but embolden our competitors and weaken our leverage. The time for half-measures, photo-op climate pledges, and “clean energy superpower” double-speak is over. The Liberals must heed Smith’s call to, “repeal these terrible laws that continue to weaken our economy, make us dependent on a single customer, and hold back the prosperity of our country.”

The National Citizens Coalition stands firmly behind Premier Smith’s vision for a stronger, more independent Canada. Ever-extending tariff threats are a wake-up call, and the Liberals can no longer afford to hit the snooze button during a summer siesta.

Mark Carney and his team need to get out of the hammock at Harrington Lake or Muskoka, roll up their sleeves, and unleash the full potential of Canada’s oil and gas sector. Our economic sovereignty, our workers, and our return to prosperity depend on it.

Alexander Brown is Director of the National Citizens Coalition, Canada’s longest-serving conservative non-profit advocacy group.