A carbon capture plant in Upper Nicola, north of Merritt, will look similar to Carbon Engineering's plant in Squamish, B.C. (Image Credit: Carbon Engineering)

By Chad Klassen

GREEN ENERGY

Upper Nicola Indian Band continues innovative trend with partnership in $1.3 billion carbon capture plant

Oct 14, 2021 | 5:22 PM

KAMLOOPS — Carbon Engineering has been working on helping the climate for the last decade, developing technologies to capture carbon from the atmosphere.

In 2015, the company first collected carbon from its pilot carbon capture plant in Squamish. It has plants across North America, but never has Carbon Engineering built a plant that produces synthetic fuel that can used in cars. That will all change in a few years with the development of a plant on the Upper Nicola Indian Band.

“We’re combining hydrogen and carbon collected from the atmosphere to make a clean fuel,” said Carbon Engineering CEO Steve Oldman told CFJC Today. “That’s the first. It’s the first plant to use our technology to do that in the world.”

The Upper Nicola Indian Band has been one of the more innovative bands in B.C. It’s in the process of developing a solar farm to produce electricity for the First Nation, and now the carbon capture plant.

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“Climate change is a huge issue, not only in this country but around the world,” said Kukpi7 Harvey McLeod from the Upper Nicola Indian Band. “And we do a lot of talking about it. ‘We’ve got to do something. We’ve got to do something,’ but what do we do.”

Altogether, the project will cost $1.3 billion to build. There is a partnership between Carbon Engineering, Huron Clean Energy, the Province of B.C. and the Upper Nicola Indian Band. The First Nation will have about 10 per cent share in the project, benefitting not only Mother Nature but also band members.

“Helping us stand up,” said McLeod. “Helping us pay for the things we need in our community — build our homes, provide more education, provide more social services so that we as people can really stand up and be included as citizens of this country. That’s what’s so exciting about it.”

B.C. energy minister Bruce Raltson added, “The chief [Harvey McLeod] talked very eloquently at the opening about the opportunity to participate directly in the economy. There are other projects the Upper Nicola [Indian Band] have in the hopper, including a solar project, but this is one where they see a lot of promise, not only a revenue stream but an opportunity to work on one of the great challenges of our time, if not the greatest challenge, that of climate change.”

Carbon Engineering is in the design phase of the plant, which will take about two years, then another couple years for construction. The plant is expected to open in 2026. The goal is to produce 100 million litres of low-carbon fuel annually.

“You produce the fuel there [at Upper Nicola] and then you take the fuel and you send it to a refinery or you send it direct to a fuel distributor,” said Oldman.

The synthetic fuel would be completely compatible with your car. The synthetic fuel would be transported to gas stations the same way gasoline is now.

The company is using the Upper Nicola project as a blueprint for other such plants around the world.

“We can replicate this design and build many plants worldwide. The climate problem is really large, so we need large-scale solutions that we can deploy to many places,” noted Oldman.

Carbon Engineering feels we are a few years aware from a full transition to a green economy, and this synthetic fuel that doesn’t emit carbon can help reduce the amount of carbon going into the atmosphere.

“If you can’t electrify, then replacing the fuel so the fuel is carbon neutral is interesting, and the fact that the fuel allows you to be carbon-neutralize your current vehicle, without changing, we also think that’s a powerful capability,” said Oldman.

The B.C. government is hoping more such projects come forward to fulfill the province’s goal of reducing carbon emissions.