France’s EDF launches carbon capture and storage subsidiary: France’s state-owned energy giant EDF has set up a new carbon offset subsidiary Oklima to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in both France and abroad, Reuters reports. One of Oklima’s projects will focus on carbon sequestration — the process of capturing and storing CO2 by planting trees, rewilding wetlands, or storing carbon underground in rocks, the newswire explains. The subsidiary has over 200 kilotonnes (kt) of carbon projects currently under development. EDF plans to certify the emissions reduced through its CCS projects with France’s low carbon label developed by the Ecological Ministry. The label takes into account both direct and indirect emissions.

REMEMBER- Not everyone is onboard the CCS train: Some climate experts warn that a focus on carbon capture will leave the door open for polluting industries to expand their fossil-fuel production and use by setting targets for CCS instead of fossil-fuel phase out.

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Amazon is buying 250k tons of carbon credits from Occidental’s Texas plant: Amazon is making its first investment in direct air capture technology by committing to purchase 250k tons of removal credits over 10 years, Reuters reports. Amazon will purchase the credits from a direct air capture (DAC) plant in Texas owned by 1PointFive — a wholly-owned subsidiary of US oil and gas company Occidental Petroleum. The plant is being developed by Occidental Petroleum’s subsidiary Oxy Low Carbon Ventures. Amazon will use the purchased credits to help meet its net zero carbon emissions by 2040 target. The price of the carbon credits were not disclosed, but developers of DAC technology have said that the cost is currently “in the mid-to-high-triple digits in dollars per metric ton,” according to Reuters. Last month, the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced it is providing over USD 1 bn in federal grants for projects in Texas and Louisiana aimed at removing over 2 mn metric tons of carbon emissions annually by scaling up DAC technology.

Occidental has some plans in our region too: Adnoc partnered with Occidental Petroleum last month to explore potential investments in carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) hubs in the UAE and US. Under the agreement, Adnoc and Occidental will evaluate the development of direct air capture (DAC) facilities in the UAE — including what could be the first megaton DAC project outside of the US — to potentially absorb as much as 1 mn tons of carbon dioxide annually.

REMEMBER- DAC is the least efficient amongst CCS methods: DAC technology refers to the removal of CO2 directly from the atmosphere at any location, as opposed to carbon capture, which involves absorbing CO2 at the point of emission. Capturing carbon from the air proved to be too energy intensive for it to play a significant role in reaching global climate goals, a future energy scenario modeled by Shell revealed earlier this year.