'Stamp of approval': Calgary-based company wins global climate solutions prize

Calgary Herald

16-07-2025

Calgary-based Carbon Upcycling is garnering global attention after taking home a prestigious award for pioneering climate solutions.
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In eight years, the Keeling Curve Prize — part of the Global Warming Mitigation Project — has awarded $2.75 million to 80 organizations. Those winners have gone on to secure more than $2.75 billion in additional funding.
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The company had applied for the prize multiple years in a row, and was 'elated' to receive it this year, Luu said.
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'Some of these previous companies that have been recognized are the world's leading carbon capture, utilization and storage companies,' he said.
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Iceland-based Carbfix is among the previous recipients, known for its project that turns carbon dioxide into minerals. That project was estimated to have a total investment of $265 million in 2021.
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Turning steel byprouducts into a cement with a lower carbon output
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'For Carbon Upcycling, as a Calgary company, to be recognized on this world stage for carbon capture and utilization, not storage, is fantastic,' said Luu. 'It truly is a testament and a nod, or a stamp of approval, to the work that we're doing.'
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Carbon capture and utilization differs from carbon capture and storage in that the former repurposes carbon in some way, rather than storing it.
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The company has amassed US$70 million in capital funding and grants since it was founded in 2014, largely with its 'CUT CO2' system, which turns industrial waste byproducts into materials for low-carbon cement production.
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Steel slag, a byproduct of steel production, and fly ash, a byproduct from burning coal — are both often landfilled or stockpiled. The company reclaims them to help create cement.
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The system also uses various clays, which are found everywhere from mining to your backyard.
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'We'll take one of these different feedstock materials and we'll process it through our CUT CO2 system,' said Luu.