Decades of acid rain and industrial emissions have dramatically increased the acidity of rivers across Canada, threatening fish stocks and other sensitive aquatic species. Climate change is making matters even worse, raising water temperatures and stressing already fragile ecosystems.
Historically, we’ve counteracted acidification with “liming programs” which add high-pH limestone to increase alkalinity. However, these programs are slow, costly, and limited in scale. With global warming accelerating, we need solutions that can restore river health and remove climate-change-causing carbon from the atmosphere—fast.
Enhancing river alkalinity to sequester CO₂ and strengthen aquatic ecosystems.
CarbonRun’s technology is the first in the world to use a safe, proven river restoration approach to decrease river acidity through river alkalinity enhancement in a way that also naturally delivers carbon to the ocean, preventing it from returning to the atmosphere.
Through placements at hydroelectric sites, CarbonRun takes advantage of consistent water flows, existing infrastructure, and access to large rivers, which are ideal conditions for efficiently restoring pH and capturing CO₂ at scale.
Through NorthX’s support, CarbonRun will develop and pilot its HydroRAE system, transforming hydro facilities into active engines of river restoration and climate mitigation. NorthX is supporting this work by providing technical expertise, monitoring and modeling capacity, and helping CarbonRun to build a playbook to replicate HydroRAE at large-scale.
While piloted in Nova Scotia, this technology can be applied across the country given the abundance of hydroelectric sites, such as in BC.
