ManitobaA Geneva-based climate policy expert is questioning an NDP government-endorsed carbon capture facility proposed for southwestern Manitoba. IISD director says there are more cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas concentrationsBartley Kives · CBC News · Posted: Oct 15, 2025 8:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoDeep Sky CEO Alex Petre, pictured here at the company’s facility in Innisfail, Alta., said carbon capture complements emission reduction efforts. (Tiphanie Roquette/CBC)A Geneva-based climate policy expert is questioning an NDP government-endorsed carbon capture facility proposed for southwestern Manitoba.Montreal-based startup Deep Sky announced plans last week to build a $200-million Manitoba plant that would remove 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year directly from the air, to start — and eventually scale up to removing 500,000 tonnes annually.Deep Sky, which operates a carbon removal plant in Alberta, has yet to choose the precise technology for its proposed Manitoba facility. It also has not chosen a location, though it is planned for somewhere in traditional Dakota territory.Premier Wab Kinew said last week that the province intends to support the project through legislation that will allow it to qualify for federal tax credits.Mike Moyes, the environment and climate change minister in Kinew’s cabinet, said the government is excited about carbon capture technology, even as it acknowledges it is no silver bullet for mitigating the effects of climate change.”This is a new technology, and we know that there’s going to take a lot of different pieces of that puzzle in order to get us down the path of net zero,” Moyes said Wednesday in his office at the Manitoba Legislative Building, referring to a plan to make the province carbon neutral by 2050.Manitoba Environment and Climate Minister Mike Moyes dismissed the idea Manitoba Hydro may not be able to power Deep Sky’s proposed carbon-capture facility. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)Deep Sky CEO Alex Petre also described carbon capture as one weapon in the climate change mitigation arsenal.”The technology helps remove historic carbon emissions, cleaning our air and lessening extreme weather events that are damaging our communities, like the devastating wildfires Manitoba experienced this summer,” she said Wednesday in a statement.Climate activists and energy policy experts do not agree with this characterization.Philip Gass, who directs Canadian energy transition policy for the International Institute for Sustainable Development, said trying to extract carbon from the atmosphere is far less cost-effective than capturing it from waste streams at carbon-emitting industries, let alone employing direct efforts to actually reduce emissions in the first place.”I’d much rather see us spend that money on energy efficiency, heat pumps and more wind power, the electrification of transport — all things that the province is committed to,” Gass said Wednesday in an interview from his Geneva office.Gass also noted carbon capture facilities require a tremendous amount of energy to operate, something that may prove onerous as demands for electricity increase.”I would be cautious about directing a lot of megawatts to other sources at the time where we’re five to 10 years away from massive, massive demand spikes for the electrification of transport,” he said.WATCH | Climate policy expert questions carbon capture:Critics question cost, energy requirements of proposed Manitoba carbon capture facilityAt least one clean energy expert says there are more cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere than to spend money on a $200-million carbon capture facility being proposed in southwestern Manitoba.For two years, Manitoba Hydro has warned the provincial government it no longer possesses the capacity to supply electricity to all new customers.The Crown corporation must spend tens of billions in the coming decades to increase generating capacity, build new transmission lines and repair existing infrastructure. Manitoba Hydro is also planning to build a two-turbine fuel-burning station to meet the growing demand for electricity.Moyes dismissed the idea Manitoba Hydro may not be able to power Deep Sky’s proposed carbon-capture facility.”There’s lots of different ways that we’re going to be generating power,” he said, citing energy efficiency measures as well as proposed wind farms that have yet to be commissioned.Deep Sky has yet to state where it intends to source its electricity. The company, which remains in the early stages of planning its Manitoba plant, has a signing ceremony slated for Thursday in Winnipeg with Chanupa Wakpa Dakota Nation.ABOUT THE AUTHORBartley Kives joined CBC Manitoba in 2016. Prior to that, he spent three years at the Winnipeg Sun and then 18 at the Winnipeg Free Press, writing about politics, music, food and outdoor recreation. He’s the author of three books – two of them Canadian bestsellers – and the winner of a Canadian Screen Award for reporting.
Energy expert questions proposed Manitoba carbon capture facility
