Latest news with #DeepSky
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Spotlight On Canada': Deep Sky's $40M DAC Hub Backed By Bill Gates Draws Global Carbon Tech Surge After Trump Fuels U.S. Climate Uncertainty
Canadian climate startup Deep Sky is rapidly emerging as a leader in carbon removal after completing construction on what it calls the world's first test hub dedicated entirely to direct air capture technologies. Located in Alberta, the Alpha facility has secured contracts with eight companies from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, and the Netherlands, Reuters reports. This surge in international demand, particularly from U.S.-based startups, follows renewed political uncertainty in the U.S. regarding federal support for climate initiatives, Reuters says. According to Deep Sky CEO Alex Petre, the shift in leadership in Washington has caused an unexpected wave of inquiries from American carbon tech developers now seeking more stable infrastructure abroad. "The changes south of the border have actually meant that there is currently a spotlight on Canada," Petre told Reuters. Don't Miss: Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — GoSun's Breakthrough Rooftop EV Charger Already Has 2,000+ Units Reserved — Deep Sky received a $40 million grant from Breakthrough Energy, the climate-focused investment firm founded by Bill Gates. According to Reuters, the funds were used to construct the Alpha facility, a pilot-scale site where up to 10 direct air capture companies can test, iterate, and optimize their technologies in real-world conditions. Direct air capture differs from traditional carbon capture systems, which remove emissions directly from industrial smokestacks, Reuters says. DAC instead pulls carbon dioxide from ambient air, making it a key technology for addressing legacy emissions that are already in the atmosphere. However, Reuters says that high costs and limited scalability have slowed widespread adoption. The largest existing DAC plant, located in Iceland, removes only 36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has projected that billions of tons may need to be removed annually by 2050 to meet climate goals. Trending: Invest early in CancerVax's breakthrough tech aiming to disrupt a $231B market. In the U.S., DAC development previously received strong support under the Biden administration, which committed over $1 billion in funding for new hubs in Texas and Louisiana. With President Donald Trump's return, those federal grants are now facing possible cancellation, prompting developers to explore alternatives in Canada, Reuters reports. Deep Sky's test facility will begin capturing 3,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually starting this summer, laying the groundwork for the company's broader plan to develop a commercial-scale carbon removal operation in Canada, according to Reuters. The energy sector's relationship with Ottawa appears to be entering a new phase. Reuters says that under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, oil and gas leaders often criticized federal policies for placing climate goals ahead of economic development, creating friction with provinces like to Reuters, new Prime Minister Mark Carney has signaled a more balanced approach, with his administration pledging to diversify Canada's energy export markets, particularly as trade tensions with the U.S., its largest customer, remain unresolved. At a Calgary Chamber of Commerce event on May 23, new Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson delivered a message aimed squarely at Canada's western provinces. "In the new economy we are building, Canada will no longer be defined by delay, we will be defined by delivery," Hodgson said during his first public appearance in Alberta's corporate oil capital since joining Carney's cabinet, Reuters reports. Petre said she believes Canada has the potential to lead in both conventional and clean energy production. 'There's lots of really interesting developments (in Canada) that seem to be on the table that I think will really help us,' Petre told Reuters. Read Next: Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report This article 'Spotlight On Canada': Deep Sky's $40M DAC Hub Backed By Bill Gates Draws Global Carbon Tech Surge After Trump Fuels U.S. Climate Uncertainty originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Buzz Feed
a day ago
- Climate
- Buzz Feed
So THAT's Why UK Heatwaves Feel So Much Worse Than Other Countries
Every time it gets hot in the UK, I rush to social media to find the one tool that can soothe me: people from roasting climates, like Australia and the southern US, learn that we're really not exaggerating about the heat here. 'UK heat hits different,' a Californian living in the UK admitted in a TikTok video recently. 'I got a fan pushing hot, sticky air around – gotta go to a grocery store if you want a little bit of relief,' she added. But why does the UK feel so much hotter than countries with the same, or higher, temperatures? We literally are not built for this heat Speaking to HuffPost UK, Max Dugan-Knight, a climate data scientist at Deep Sky, said that if you think the heat really is different here, 'your intuition is correct'. Not only does he say that 'heatwaves are getting more common, hotter, longer, and generally more dangerous,' due to climate change, but the expert added: 'They're particularly uncomfortable in the UK.' One reason for that is the 'inadequate infrastructure for very hot temperatures' we have here, Dugan-Knight told us. 'There are places that regularly get temperatures that high – in the tropics, for instance, or the US Southwest – but almost everyone has access to air conditioning, shade is prioritised in building design, and in some cases, daily schedules adapt to avoid being outside during the hottest times of the day.' The UK, in comparison, 'is not prepared for heat like this', from our train infrastructure to our homes. Richard Millard, senior sustainability consultant at Building Energy Experts, added: 'House are designed to keep heat in with large amounts of insulation and dense materials such as brick and stone, that can work to overheat in summer due to solar gains and activity in the house during the day and our buildings lack design to prevent solar gain effectively such as shutters, overhangs and awnings and light colour exteriors and roofs that reflect away heat.' Then, there's our environment and climate Another issue is the humidity of the UK, which prevents sweat from wicking away, Johan Jaques, chief meteorologist at environmental solutions company KISTERS, said. 'That's why you feel hotter and stickier... This difference is why 35°C in a dry climate can feel more comfortable than 30°C with high relative humidity.' Then, there are our cities, which Miller said are likely to get hotter than rural spots. 'The UK has a very dense urban environment, which means our towns and cities have a large urban heat island effect due to the amount of concrete, asphalt and such that absorbs heat and releases it slowly, making cities and towns feel hotter,' he explained. These heatwaves, sadly, are likely to get longer, hotter, and 'generally more dangerous', Dugan-Knight ended. 'It is distressing, there's no way around that. In the short term we need to invest in better infrastructure to be able to withstand heatwaves like pervasive air conditioning. 'In the long term, we must address the underlying forces of climate change.'
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Canadian carbon tech startup draws US interest post-Trump
CALGARY, June 26 (Reuters) - A Canadian startup that has built the world's first hub for the testing of multiple direct-air carbon-sucking technologies says it has seen an influx of inquiries from U.S. companies in the wake of President Donald Trump's election. Startup Deep Sky recently completed construction at its "Alpha" Direct Air Capture, or DAC, test ground in Alberta, where it will have room for 10 companies to deploy and fine-tune technologies on their way to developing commercial-scale plants. CEO Alex Petre said that with the Trump administration's reduced focus on climate as well as uncertainty about the future of U.S. funding support for DAC technology, Deep Sky is fielding more inquiries than expected from U.S.-based carbon tech developers. "The changes south of the border have actually meant that there is currently a spotlight on Canada," she said. Deep Sky, which received a $40 million grant last year from Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy, has signed contracts with eight companies — from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands and Germany — to operate at the site. Carbon removal at the testing ground, which is expected to capture 3,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, will begin this summer. DAC is different from the more established carbon capture and storage technology. Where traditional carbon capture and storage is deployed at industrial smoke stacks, filtering out the CO2 and storing it before it reaches the atmosphere, DAC removes carbon directly from the air — meaning it can clean up emissions that have already occurred. However, the technology has been expensive and slow to scale. The largest operating DAC plant in the world, in Iceland, has capacity to capture just 36,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said stabilizing the planet's climate could require DAC removal at the scale of millions or even billions of tonnes annually by 2050. In the U.S., DAC proponents are facing a broader political backlash against public funding for climate technology. Under former President Joe Biden, the U.S. Department of Energy pledged more than $1 billion in funding support for two proposed DAC hubs in Texas and Louisiana. But sources told Reuters in March the grant funding could be eliminated by the Trump administration. Petre said that once Deep Sky's Alberta test hub is fully up and running, the company plans to develop a large-scale commercial DAC project in Canada. She said she is encouraged by new Prime Minister Mark Carney's commitment to identify and fast-track infrastructure projects of national interest in an effort to help Canada become a conventional and clean energy superpower. "There's lots of really interesting developments (in Canada) that seem to be on the table that I think will really help us," Petre said.
CBC
01-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Sucking carbon from the air; companies using AI bots for hiring: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet
Social Sharing Miss something this week? Don't panic. CBC's Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need. Want this in your inbox? Get the Marketplace newsletter every Friday. How one company plans to suck carbon right out of the air (and make money doing it) Just off the highway near Innisfail, Alta., a town about 120 kilometres north of Calgary, is a construction site immediately identified by a large tent boasting the words "Deep Sky" in a groovy, arcade-style font. The roughly two-hectare facility, still under construction, is hosting what could be called a carbon-removal Olympics. It will test eight different versions of a similar technology using various machines that will suck in air, remove the carbon dioxide and send it to a central plant, where it will be compressed and liquified for storage deep underground. The winner of this initiative won't get a medal on a podium. Instead, Deep Sky, the Montreal-based project developer behind it, plans to take the best versions of the direct air capture technology that prove most effective in Canada's climate and deploy them on a commercial scale all over the country. "There are some preliminary data points about this for sure, but has anyone run this system in –30 C yet?" asked Alex Petre, the new CEO of Deep Sky, indicating one of the recently installed direct air capture machines. "No, we haven't." The company is so confident this will be successful that it's already begun initial work on two commercial projects, one in Quebec and the other in Manitoba. That's despite not yet knowing how they will be fully financed or which technology will be put to use. A B.C. couple waited weeks to get their stillborn daughter's remains. Then, they were invoiced for her autopsy Nick Bordignon was still deep in grief over the death of his infant daughter last October when an envelope from B.C.'s Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) turned up in his mailbox. It was addressed to the infant he and his wife had named Makayla Poppy when she was delivered at Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody, B.C., four weeks earlier following an ultrasound that showed the child was dead. Inside was an invoice for the cost of an autopsy and an itemized list of tests conducted by a coroner, a bill the PHSA has since admitted the Bordignons were never supposed to see. And to make matters worse, the letter seemed to indicate Makayla's body was still in the morgue — two weeks after the autopsy was performed and nearly a month after she was stillborn. "I remember just standing there in disbelief ... and the initial confusion very quickly turned to rage," said Bordignon, who works as a police officer. "I'm no fool, I've seen autopsies performed, they are not pretty ... it was soul-crushing and just wrong.... It's just like, OK, so if this is an itemized list, this means the autopsy has been done. Where is she?" CBC News has learned that the Bordignons' concerns about both the invoice and the delay in releasing Makayla's body are now under investigation by B.C.'s Patient Care Quality Review Board — the body tasked with reviewing complaints about health authority policies and procedure. The story highlights what experts say is a lack of standardized care when it comes to stillbirths, which can result in errors that traumatize already grieving families. In a letter, the health services authority apologized for the invoice and said the charges for the autopsy had been reversed. After the Bordignons received the invoice in the mail and called the hospital, the process of getting Makayla's remains home unfolded quickly. Canada Post reports $1.3B operating loss with declines in both letter and parcel revenue Canada Post is reporting a $1.3-billion loss in operating expenses in its 2024 annual report. The Crown corporation made up for some of those losses by selling off certain ventures, including its logistics business, which it sold in January of last year. Excluding tax — and accounting for its divestments — Canada Post's losses totalled $841 million last year. That's larger than the $748-million loss reported in 2023, and in 2022 when it lost $548 million. The last time Canada Post made a profit was in 2017. Overall, the Crown corporation says it has lost $3.8 billion since 2018. Canada Post said in a news release that volumes and revenues declined in both traditional letter and parcel delivery and that the corporation faces stiff competition from private parcel carriers. "Our current structure was built for a bygone era of letter mail — the status quo has led us to the verge of financial insolvency and is not an option. The need to change, respond to our challenges and secure this important infrastructure for the future is more urgent than ever before," CEO Doug Ettinger said in the news release. Revenue from parcel delivery alone fell by $683 million compared with 2023, the report says. The corporation also said the postal worker strike late last year contributed to a loss of $208 million. This latest annual report comes with another potential strike looming. The last strike ended when the federal government ordered employees back to work under their existing contracts, which were extended until May 22 to allow the bargaining process to resume. What else is going on? PM says U.S. tariffs are 'unlawful' and 'unjustified' — and now a court agrees, in part. Her job interview was with an AI bot. It was odd Companies are using AI hiring bots to screen, shortlist and talk to job candidates. Advocates say the technology frees up human workers from tedious tasks, but some applicants say it adds confusion to the process, and there are concerns about HR job losses. Marketplace needs your help! Have you experienced a customer service nightmare? We're looking for frustrating, absurd or outrageously bad customer service stories. If you've been given the runaround or wrong info, or have been ignored or hung up on, share your story with us! We want to know who you think are the worst offenders. Email us at marketplace@
Time Magazine
30-05-2025
- Climate
- Time Magazine
Why ‘Hundred-Year' Weather Events Are Happening More Than Once Every 100 Years
Climate change is leading not only to droughts, wildfires, and extreme weather. It's also leading to oxymorons—at least when it comes to what are known as hundred-year storms, floods, and other events. Long-term weather forecasting—the kind that predicts conditions months or even years or decades in advance—is all about probabilities, factoring together not only current conditions and trends, but the historical record. An area that has seen floods in the past when the spring was unusually rainy or tropical storms were unusually fierce, is likely to see them again if the same conditions recur. Ditto the likelihood of severe storms when the atmosphere is holding a lot of moisture and the oceans are atypically warm. Environmental scientists have gotten so good at reading weather history that they can characterize some severe storms or floods as likely to occur in a given area only once in 100 years—or even 500 years or a thousand years. That's where the oxymoron comes in. As climate change leads to greater meteorological volatility, the one in 100—or 500 or 1,000—year events are occurring twice or three times or more in those windows. Since 1999, there have been nine storms along the North Carolina coast that qualify as hundred or thousand year events. From 2015 to 2019, one suburb of St. Louis experienced three major floods, two of which met the criteria for hundred-year events. One study by the Montreal-based carbon removal project Deep Sky calculates that the frequency of deadly hurricanes has jumped 300%, with 100-year storms now forecast to occur once every 25 years. Climate change is also redefining what qualifies as one of these rare and intense events. 'In April, an extreme rainfall event hit the Mississippi Valley, including Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee,' says climate scientist Andrew Pershing, chief program officer at Climate Central, an advocacy and communications group. 'Some of our colleagues at the World Weather Attribution group did a study and calculated that it was a 100-year event based on today's climate, but without climate change it would have been more like a 500-year event.' Making those kinds of calculations can take some doing—and a fair bit of data modeling—because climate unfolds over the course of millennia and modern weather and climate records barely go back a century. 'Scientists first look at 30 years of data, 50 years of data and figure out how frequently these events occur,' says Pershing. 'The challenge is that when you do that you're using data from the past when it was around two degrees cooler than it is now. When you start to do the calculations for today's climate, you find that events that you might expect to happen once every hundred years might happen once every 20 years.' The math here gets a little simpler. By definition, a hundred-year storm has a 1% likelihood of occurring in any one year; for a 500-year storm it's 0.2%; for a thousand years it's 0.1%. But every year the probability clock starts anew; if the 1% longshot comes in and a hundred-year storm occurs on the Carolina coast in 2025, that same area would typically have the same 1% chance in 2026—but climate change is making the likelihood even higher. 'It's not like you can calendar one of these events and say you're cool for another 100 years,' says Pershing. Driving the more frequent events is what Pershing describes as a 'thirstier' atmosphere, one that is hotter and thus capable of holding more moisture. 'We have a supercharged water cycle and that means that when you get a rain event it has a better chance of being a bigger event than it used to be,' says Pershing. Some of those bigger events could be coming soon—in the form of hurricanes. On May 22, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its projections for storm severity in the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. NOAA did not attempt to predict 100- or 500- or thousand-year events, but it does see trouble looming. The agency projects a 60% chance of an above-average hurricane season, a 30% chance of an average season, and just a 10% chance of below average. Across the six hurricane months, NOAA predicts 13 to 19 named storms—with winds of 39 mph or higher—up to 10 of which will likely develop into hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or more. Up to five of those could be major hurricanes—category 3, 4, or 5, with winds of 111 mph or more. And the impact could extend far beyond the coastal regions that are usually hardest hit. 'As we witnessed last year with significant inland flooding from hurricanes Helene [in September] and Debby [in August], the impacts of hurricanes can reach far beyond coastal communities,' said acting NOAA administrator Laura Grimm in a statement. Things could get dicey not only in the Atlantic, but in the Pacific as well. Already, tropical storm Alvin is forming off the southwest coast of Mexico, two weeks ahead of the start of the eastern Pacific hurricane season. In addition to hurricanes, floods, and storms, heat waves, droughts, and wildfires can be projected out over centuries. 'A hotter atmosphere can hold more water, but if you squeeze that moisture out over a mountain range like what happens in the west, then you end up with a much drier air mass,' says Pershing. 'The atmosphere then wants to suck the moisture out of the ground and so droughts get more severe.' There's no easy fix for a feverish atmosphere. In the short run, adaptation—dikes and levees to protect flood-prone cities, relocating residences away from eroding coasts—can help. In the longer run, shutting off the greenhouse emissions that created the problem in the first place is the best and most sustainable bet for limiting hundred-year storms to their hundred-year timelines. 'We have to quit fossil fuels as fast as we can,' says Pershing. 'This will give the climate a chance to stabilize and us a chance to adjust.'
