I arrived at the CarbonLift facility outside of Edmonton on an overcast spring morning, just as the last remnants of winter snow were receding from the edges of the gravel lot. The air carried that distinctive mix of petroleum products and cold metal that defines much of Alberta’s industrial corridor—but inside, researchers were working on something that could fundamentally transform this landscape’s environmental footprint.
“We’re not just capturing carbon dioxide,” explained Dr. Sanjay Mehta, leading me through a maze of gleaming pipes and monitoring equipment. “We’re turning a liability into an asset.”
This modest industrial park houses one of Canada’s most promising climate innovations: a carbon capture system that doesn’t just store emissions underground but transforms them into marketable products. CarbonLift’s technology represents a potential breakthrough in how industries approach their carbon footprint—converting greenhouse gases into materials for everything from concrete to consumer goods.
The timing couldn’t be more critical. Environment and Climate Change Canada reported that our national emissions reached 670 megatonnes in 2021, down only marginally from pre-pandemic levels. For context, that’s equivalent to the emissions from roughly 145 million passenger vehicles driven for one year.
Carbon capture technology has existed for decades, but most systems remain prohibitively expensive, with costs around $120-150 per tonne captured. CarbonLift claims their approach cuts this nearly in half while creating revenue streams from the captured carbon.
“Traditional carbon capture has always been a cost center—something companies do reluctantly to meet regulations,” said Mehta, whose background spans twenty years in chemical engineering and climate solutions. “We’re creating a profit center.”
The facility I toured represented five years of research and $47 million in combined private investment and federal grants from Natural Resources Canada. Inside a warehouse-like space, engineers monitored a demonstration unit processing emissions from a nearby natural gas facility. The captured carbon dioxide undergoes a proprietary catalytic process, emerging as a feedstock for materials like carbon fiber, construction aggregates, and specialized polymers.
Walking among the towering equipment, I couldn’t help but consider the tension at the heart of this technology. Is this truly climate action, or simply a way for fossil fuel companies to greenwash their operations while continuing business as usual?
I put this question to Emma Yellowhead, climate policy director at Indigenous Climate Action, who has been monitoring developments in carbon capture technology.
“These technologies exist in context,” she told me during a phone interview after my visit. “If carbon capture becomes an excuse to delay phasing out fossil fuels, then it’s problematic. But if it’s part of a just transition that respects Indigenous rights and addresses emissions from essential industries like cement or steel production, it has a role.”
Yellowhead’s organization has advocated for ensuring that any climate technologies deployed on traditional territories include meaningful consultation and benefits for Indigenous communities—something CarbonLift has attempted by establishing an Indigenous advisory council and employment program.
The economics remain challenging. CarbonLift’s system currently operates at a cost of approximately $78 per tonne of carbon dioxide captured, according to internal data shared with Mediawall.news. Revenue from converted carbon products offsets about $45 per tonne, leaving a $33 gap that still requires either carbon pricing, tax incentives, or other financial supports to close.
Across Canada, several other companies are racing to develop similar technologies. Carbon Engineering in Squamish, B.C., recently secured over $100 million in financing to scale up its direct air capture technology. In Quebec, Carbicrete is developing concrete that actually absorbs CO2 during production. And in Saskatchewan, the Boundary Dam power station hosts one of the world’s first commercial-scale carbon capture systems on a coal plant.
The federal government has signaled strong support for these technologies. Last year’s budget included a hefty investment tax credit for carbon capture projects, offering up to 50% coverage for equipment costs. The incentive could unlock billions in private investment, though critics note the government simultaneously provided nearly $18 billion in fossil fuel subsidies, according to analysis from Environmental Defence.
“We’re caught in this strange middle space,” explained Dr. Sarah Richardson, climate scientist at the University of British Columbia. “We absolutely need to rapidly decarbonize our energy systems, but we also need solutions for hard-to-abate industrial emissions. The danger is conflating these separate challenges.”
The International Energy Agency has projected that carbon capture technologies will need to handle 7.6 billion tonnes of CO2 annually by 2050 to reach global climate targets—a thousand-fold increase from current capacity. Without this scale-up, limiting warming to 1.5°C becomes virtually impossible.
Back at the CarbonLift facility, product development manager Kira Chen showed me samples of materials created from captured carbon. A lightweight black panel resembling carbon fiber could potentially replace aluminum in vehicle manufacturing. A concrete block made with their carbonated aggregate showed 22% higher strength than conventional versions while sequestering carbon for centuries.
“Every product in this room represents carbon that would otherwise be in the atmosphere,” Chen said, sweeping her arm across a display table. “We’re literally building with our emissions.”
When I asked about scalability challenges, she acknowledged the reality: their current demonstration unit captures about 25 tonnes of CO2 daily—equivalent to the emissions from approximately 5,400 passenger vehicles. Meaningful climate impact would require hundreds of such facilities across Canada.
As I drove back through Edmonton’s industrial heartland, smokestacks punctuated the horizon—a stark reminder of the sheer scale of our emissions challenge. CarbonLift’s technology offers a promising tool, but tools alone don’t solve problems. They require the right hands, the right policies, and the right intentions.
What became clear during my reporting is that carbon capture technologies present neither silver bullet nor false hope, but rather a nuanced component of climate action that depends entirely on how we deploy them. If used to extend fossil fuel dependence, they may simply delay inevitable transitions. If integrated thoughtfully into a broader decarbonization strategy, they could help address emissions from essential industries while creating new economic opportunities.
The real breakthrough may not be technological at all, but in how we frame the challenge: not as capturing carbon, but as transforming our relationship with it—from waste to resource, from liability to opportunity.
