Canada’s largest urban innovation hub, the MaRS Discovery District, is taking a pioneering step in the fight against climate change. The company announced it will purchase carbon removal credits from five Canadian venture companies through the Mission from MaRS program.
According to CDR.fyi, the most comprehensive database for tracking CDR credits, MaRS was one of the first Canadian charities to purchase carbon removal credits.
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Carbon removal is a key technology for achieving climate goals. This is a process that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and keeps it locked away for centuries. Organizations seeking to meet climate goals can purchase carbon removal credits as a mechanism to reduce emissions. This allows them to compensate other parties for removing carbon on their behalf. When a company buys a carbon credit, it is usually equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide emitted from traditional or hard-to-reduce emissions, such as industrial processes.
“Canada is already demonstrating leadership in carbon removal, being home to world-class innovation like the companies we are acquiring through this initiative,” said Krista, Chief Delivery Officer at MaRS. Jones says. “All we need to do is stimulate the market. Through this purchase, we hope that MaRS will inspire others to take action.”
As a pre-purchase, MaRS will receive credits over the next three years that will be used to reduce emissions at the annual MaRS Climate Impact Conference. The purchase will generate a total of 84 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 19 gasoline-powered passenger cars, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
This purchase may seem small, but as one of the first charities to do so in Canada, it supports the early development and adoption of this important technology, while raising awareness of its need and potential. It is expected that this will have a significant impact. MaRS will also share learnings from the purchasing process with businesses and ecosystem partners with the aim of building domestic demand for Canadian carbon removal solutions and the carbon credits resulting from their implementation.
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The carbon removal purchase amounted to $60,000 and is generously supported by funding from the RBC Foundation, Peter Gilgan Foundation, and Consecon Foundation. “We are committed to helping these innovative companies scale up and transform this important sector into a real climate solution and an engine of economic growth for Canada,” said Jeff Burt, CEO of the Consecon Foundation. I’m happy to be able to support them.”
Carbon removal credits will be purchased from five Canadian ventures:
- Halifax company CarbonRun is remediating polluted rivers while combating climate change by safely and responsibly adding natural limestone.
- Halifax-based Planetary Technologies uses a process called ocean alkaline fortification to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- The Halifax-based Gaia refinery captures carbon dioxide from both the air using direct air capture (DAC) technology and biomass (BiCR) sources.
- Ottawa-based TerraFixing has developed adsorption-based DAC technology. The company’s solutions are designed to operate in cold, remote locations where competing DAC systems have difficulty operating.
- Arca, a Vancouver-based cleantech venture, reprocesses tailings from nickel mines so that they react with carbon dioxide, fundamentally accelerating a natural geochemical process called carbon mineralization.
MaRS Mission: The Carbon Management Program is focused on supporting the commercialization of early stage ventures with negative emissions solutions. MaRS increases awareness of carbon removal in Canada, educates customers, and prototypes models to develop markets through partnerships with organizations that aim to enable Canada’s carbon removal industry.
