Direct Air Capture Squamish: A Canadian Technology Behind a Giant Texas Project

Direct air capture Squamish is a name that matters in carbon removal. Carbon Engineering, based in Squamish, British Columbia, developed technology to pull CO2 from the air, and it is now part of a US oil company’s effort to build the world’s largest plant of its kind.

The sale to Occidental

Occidental announced on 16 August 2023 that it would buy Carbon Engineering for about 1.1 billion dollars in cash, paid in three roughly equal annual installments. Research and development and the Innovation Center stay in Squamish. After closing it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, so it is best described as Squamish-based and Occidental-owned.

Direct air capture Squamish technology in Texas

Occidental’s 1PointFive unit is building STRATOS in Ector County, Texas, designed for up to 500,000 tonnes of CO2 a year. In April 2025 it received Class VI permits for STRATOS, described as the first for CO2 from a direct air capture project, with the CO2 stored more than a mile underground. 1PointFive says it deploys Carbon Engineering’s technology.

Delays

E&E News reported in August 2026 that STRATOS is expected to start at the end of 2026, versus an earlier plan of the end of 2024. Construction began in May 2023. The same article said the largest operating plant today removes 36,000 tonnes a year, and that Occidental’s CEO told investors the company cannot keep investing in low carbon projects without support from regulators or other companies.

Why it matters

Canada produced technology that the world is trying to scale. The gap between a 36,000 tonne plant and a 500,000 tonne plan shows how big the jump is, and how much depends on policy and funding.

Sources: World Oil, August 16, 2023; 1PointFive, April 7, 2025; E&E News, August 7, 2026. Figures marked as company reported come from the company itself.