‘World’s biggest’ carbon removal deal signed
The deal between Drax Group and Respira International covers two million metric tonnes of carbon
A carbon removal deal, described as the “world’s biggest”, has been signed by renewable energy firm Drax Group and carbon finance business Respira International.
Drax has signed a memorandum of understanding with Respira, which will see the latter able to purchase up to two million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide removals (CDR) certificates from Drax over a five-year period.
Respira invests in carbon credits and, as part of the memorandum, is to receive up to 400,000 metric tonnes of CDRs a year from Drax. The CDRs will be backed by carbon removals delivered by Drax’s bioenergy with carbon capture storage (BECCS) facilities in North America.
Respira would then sell on the CDRs, through the voluntary carbon market, to corporates and financial institutions pursuing net-zero targets.
Bioenergy CCS in the US has the potential to offer a game-changing contribution to the fight against climate change.
Boosting carbon capture and storage investment
Drax operates a portfolio of sustainable biomass, hydro-electric and pumped hydro storage facilities across Europe and North America. Will Gardiner, the company’s CEO, says this memorandum will facilitate further BECCS facilities to be created.
“The clear demand that we are seeing for engineered carbon removals, alongside the policies being developed by progressive governments in the US and UK to support bioenergy CCS, will enable the investment needed to kickstart a vital new sector of the economy, creating tens of thousands of jobs, often in communities which need them the most,” says Gardiner.
“Bioenergy CCS in the US has the potential to offer a game-changing contribution to the fight against climate change, provide energy grid stability to those areas which need it most and also revolutionise the way companies approach decarbonising their operations.”
In the US, supportive regulatory frameworks for CDRs are being developed at a state level in California, Louisiana and Texas.
This follows the signing-in of a landmark piece of regulation in the US, President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
The act includes $369bn of support measures for fighting climate change.
