Mark Zekulin, Invert’s executive chair. (Courtesy Invert Inc.)

CarbonCure Technologies‘ process to mineralize and permanently store CO2 in concrete has netted the company a $38 million carbon-credit purchase agreement from Invert Inc. and Ripple Inc.

Invert, an emissions reduction and offsetting company, and Ripple, a provider of crypto and blockchain solutions, partnered to make the investment in CarbonCure’s storage process. Invert will supply about $31.6 million and Ripple will provide the rest in the 10-year agreement.

CarbonCure injects captured CO2 into fresh concrete, where the company says it is permanently locked away. This mineralization reduces the amount of cement needed in each mix, which also lowers the carbon footprint of the resulting concrete.

The production of cement makes up seven per cent of global CO2 emissions each year.

“I think it’s very fair to say it is one of the largest sequestration CO2 project funding purchase agreements out there. I think we can say, with great confidence, that it is the largest with respect to mineralization,” said Mark Zekulin, Invert’s executive chair and the former president and CEO of Canopy Growth Corporation.

The carbon credit partnership

The deal is a result of a recently announced partnership between Invert and San Francisco-based Ripple to source and invest in carbon-credit projects. Ripple has committed to net-zero operations by 2030.

Invert had been in talks with CarbonCure, which is based in Halifax, for a while. Once the three companies began working together, the agreement took about six months to finalize.

Zekulin praised the quality of CarbonCure’s credits, because it’s a carbon removal company with a methodology approved by Verra. Verra, also known as the Verified Carbon Standard, is a method for certifying carbon emissions reductions.

Earlier this year, CarbonCure was one of 13 Canadian companies listed in the Cleantech Group’s annual Global Cleantech 100 list of private companies making an impact in sustainability.

So far, CarbonCure says it has delivered two million truckloads of its concrete mixes to projects around the world which are seeking more sustainable construction materials.

According to a release about the partnership, CarbonCure’s methodology allows Invert and other buyers to trace the precise deployment date and location of the CO2 they paid to permanently store.

The amount of credits over the length of the agreement was unspecified. The release referred to “hundreds of thousands” and Zekulin said the company is focusing on the dollar amount in the agreement.

“This investment will accelerate CarbonCure’s active scaling and help us achieve our mission to reach 500 million metric tons of annual CO₂ reduction and removal by 2030 — equivalent to removing 100 million cars from the road each year,” CarbonCure founder and CEO Rob Niven said in a statement on the agreement.

Invert’s future

Zekulin said Invert sees “lots of opportunity for collaboration” with CarbonCure going forward, but declined to get into any specifics about potential future transactions. The key for Invert is to be involved in projects that are “credible, verifiable and durable.”

Zekulin joined Ottawa-based Invert in February, when it rebranded from the Net Zero Company Ltd. Rade Kovacevic, also a former Canopy Growth president, came aboard as Invert’s co-CEO at the same time, sharing the duty with existing CEO Andre Fernandez.

In March, Invert announced a partnership with Adventus Mining Corporation and Salazar Resources Limited to help develop a GHG emissions inventory, forecast and reduction strategy for their Curipamba copper and gold mining project in central Ecuador.

Zekulin said these initiatives are a result of Invert’s desire to take a more consumer-facing approach.

“We really want to be consumer-facing right now, to actually set up a place where individuals can go and can understand their carbon footprint, understand what they can do about it and understand the different types of projects,” he said.