CCS developer Carbon America gets $30mn in funding

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) company Carbon America said December 15 it secured $30mn in funding to scale-up and commercalise some of its projects.

Carbon America secured the funding through a consortium of investors, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The company said shareholders “have the option” to invest another $15mn by April.

“Having such strong financial and strategic partners is a key enabler to advance our mission of working with some of the biggest emitters in North America to mitigate their climate impact, capture as much CO₂ as possible as quickly as possible, and drive down the cost of carbon capture for the world,” Carbon America chair Alex Lau said.

The Colorado-based company describes itself as a vertically-integrated “super developer” of CCS projects.

“This vertical integration means we turn the complex, multi-faceted undertaking of CCS into comprehensive, simple solutions for our partners,” it said.

CCS is costly, though the International Energy Agency (IEA) said sweeping generalisations were difficult to pin down. It put the range at between $15/mt to as high as $120/mt of CO₂.

“Capturing CO₂ directly from the air is currently the most expensive approach, but could nonetheless play a unique role in carbon removal,” the IEA said. “Some CO₂ capture technologies are commercially available now, while others are still in development, and this further contributes to the large range in costs.”