Ep 38: Steve Oldham, CEO of Carbon Engineering

Today’s guest is Steve Oldham, CEO of Carbon Engineering.

Founded in 2009, CE is a Canadian-based clean energy company leading the commercialization of groundbreaking technology that captures CO₂ directly from the atmosphere, and a second technology that synthesizes it into clean, affordable transportation fuels. From a pilot plant in Squamish, B.C., CE has been removing CO₂ from the atmosphere since 2015 and converting it into fuels since 2017.

Steve brings more than 20 years of executive experience to CE’s team, stemming from previous roles in technology, robotics, and aerospace sectors. Steve served as Senior Vice President, Strategic Business Development for MDA, a leading Canadian technology firm. At MDA, Steve held a variety of senior executive positions across Canada and the US, covering General Management, Business Development, and Strategy. He has secured financing from Government and commercial sources for a variety of complex technologies, including several large satellite programs. Steve holds a bachelor of science degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Birmingham in England.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• Overview of direct air capture and how it works


• Progress to date, long vision, and what is coming next


• Cost drivers, and go to market strategy


• Discussion about carbon math and why carbon removal is so important


• Discussion on 45Q tax credits, LCFS credits, what they are and why they matter


• Discussion around price on carbon, whether it is essential, and why it may make sense to distinguish legacy carbon removal from removal at point of emission and also why incentives may make sense based on carbon intensity


• Discussion about enhanced oil recovery vs pure CO2 removal services, and Carbon Engineerings short and longterm plans


• Discussion around historic role of big hydrocarbon companies, role going forward, and how important they are to the equation


• Discussion around CE and how they are working with some of the big hydrocarbon companies, and the nature of those relationships


• CE’s licensing model, profile of partners to take into other parts of the world


• What policy initiatives Steve finds to be most impactful


• Steve’s advice for others trying to find their lane in the climate fight

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• Carbon Engineering: https://carbonengineering.com/


• Chevron: https://www.chevron.com/


• Occidental Petroleum: https://www.oxy.com/aboutOccidental/Pages/default.aspx


• BHP: https://www.bhp.com/


• Jim McDermott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesacmcdermott/


• Direct air capture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_air_capture


• 45Q: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:26%20section:45Q%20edition:prelim)


• California Low Carbon Fuel Standard: https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/fuels/lcfs/lcfs.htm

You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at [email protected], where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant