Carbon Engineering (CE), a Canadian clean-energy company, has received equity investment from two global energy companies: Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, and Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), the venture capital arm of Chevron. These investments will accelerate the commercialization of CE’s proven direct air capture (DAC) technology that removes carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from the air.
This announcement highlights the first significant collaboration between a DAC developer and the energy industry, with two global energy leaders investing in DAC as a mechanism to reduce emissions from transportation and enable permanent capture of existing atmospheric CO2 that can be used both in oil production and in direct synthesis of fuels.
“CE’s relationships with Occidental and Chevron, and these new investments, will allow us to accelerate the deployment of our DAC and Air to Fuels technologies,” said Steve Oldham, chief executive officer of CE. “With an increasing focus worldwide on the need for aggressive emissions reductions, CE’s technology can play a major role, and energy industry leaders like Occidental and Chevron will greatly accelerate commercialization of CE’s technology.”
CE has been developing DAC technology since 2009 and capturing CO2 from the atmosphere at a pilot plant in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada, since 2015. The DAC plants are location-independent and can be colocated with an oilfield operation for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Occidental is the industry leader in using CO2 to enable low-cost EOR, which can increase oil recovery by 10 to 20%, while at the same time permanently sequestering the CO2 in the reservoir. Using atmospheric CO2 for oil recovery in this way greatly reduces the net addition of CO2 to the atmosphere from oil production and fuel use. It opens a pathway to producing fully carbon-neutral or even net-negative fuels.
“OLCV is dedicated to advancing innovative low-carbon technology solutions that enhance Occidental’s business both for today and tomorrow,” said Richard Jackson, Occidental’s senior vice president for operations support. “Carbon Engineering’s direct air capture technology has the unique capability to capture and provide large volumes of atmospheric CO2. This capability complements Occidental’s enhanced oil recovery business and provides further synergies by enabling large-scale CO2 utilization and sequestration.”