Swiss carbon capture company Climeworks chooses Calgary as its Canadian home base

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🗞️ Driving the news: Swiss direct air capture company Climeworks has chosen Calgary as its Canadian headquarters
• It plans to launch a mobile testing facility in Alberta this fall before building a large-scale carbon removal plant in the province

🔭 The context: Climeworks pioneered commercial direct air capture (DAC) technology, which removes CO₂ directly from the atmosphere and stores it underground
• The company currently operates two plants in Iceland, including the Mammoth facility, designed to capture 36,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year
• Alberta’s geological storage capacity, existing energy infrastructure, and supportive tax credits are attracting growing investment in carbon removal technologies.

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Direct air capture is considered a critical tool for achieving global climate targets because it removes carbon already in the atmosphere
• Scaling technologies like DAC could help offset emissions from sectors that are difficult to decarbonize, supporting long-term climate mitigation and carbon neutrality goals

⏭️ What’s next: Climeworks will test its carbon capture equipment in Alberta’s cold climate using a mobile facility before deciding on the location and timeline for a full-scale plant
• If built, the facility could become the company’s largest carbon removal project globally

💬 One quote: “Alberta is emerging as a global leader in carbon dioxide removal.” - Jorden Dye, Director of the Carbon Dioxide Removal Centre at the Pembina Institute

📈 One stat: Climeworks’ Mammoth plant in Iceland aims to remove 36,000 tonnes of CO₂ annually, equivalent to emissions from about 8,400 cars

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