Electro Carbon has begun deliveries of the world's first low-carbon de-icing fluid to Montreal's Trudeau International and Mirabel airports, and other major airports in Quebec.

The new product, ECOWAY50, provides a net-zero solution to de-icing airport runways. The Montreal delivery marks the initial industrial application of the eco-friendly alternative to the standard chemical fluid used by airports around the world. 

Electro Carbon, a Quebec-based company founded in 2019, has achieved this by developing an innovative method of electrolysis which relies entirely on hydropower to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) into "green" potassium formate.

The company expects to be able to deliver the product at scale across Canada by 2027. This will allow airports to replace conventional de-icing fluid - up until now produced almost exclusively using electricity generated from fossil fuels - with Electro Carbon's zero-carbon solution.

The new partnership between Electro Carbon and ADM - the agency responsible for overseeing Montreal's Trudeau International Airport and its sister Mirabel hub, primarily used for cargo flights - sets the stage for Canada-wide adoption of the 100 per cent biodegradable de-icing compound.

Until today, Quebec and Canada have been entirely dependent on sourcing potassium formate de-icing fluid from Asian or Middle Eastern suppliers, relying on power generated by fossil fuels. 

Electro Carbon's green alternative contains 15 per cent "green" potassium formate that has been blended with regular potassium formate. 

Delivering 'green juice' at competitive price 

Electro Carbon is currently aiming to raise $40 million in capital to construct a CO2 electrolyzer plant capable of producing 5,000 tonnes of potassium formate annually.

"We are planning this new facility to produce what we like to call our 'green juice' at scale and in sufficient quantities to supply not only airports in Quebec but also across Canada and do so at a comparable cost to conventional de-icing fluid," Martin Larocque, co-founder and CEO of Electro Carbon, said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada.

This would allow the company to meet market demand and achieve cost parity with international suppliers by lowering its production costs to deliver a 100 per cent price-competitive "green" product.

This is also the threshold at which Electro Carbon claims it will be able to achieve a net reduction of 2.15 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of ECOWAY50 produced.

"We are the only producer of potassium formate in Canada today and just as importantly we are the first and only producer of green potassium formate in the world," Larocque said.

Over the long term, the company aims to deploy facilities in different locations, including Quebec and British Columbia, to be closer to their markets and ensure efficient production.

"We're getting good feedback from our Quebec airport customers that's going to give us a lot of momentum to approach other major international airports in Canada. There should be every reason to buy a product made here in Canada and which has no carbon footprint," Larocque said.

"Our long-term goal is to deploy multiple electrolyzer units, each capable of producing a minimum of 5,000 tonnes of our 'green juice' per year, and located as close as possible to markets both here in Quebec and across Canada. At that scale, we will be able to supply all six major Canadian airports with a 100 per cent green molecule with no green premium."

Delivering an eco-friendly alternative to highly polluting road salt

In addition to reducing the carbon footprint of airports, Electro Carbon is already exploring other attractive industrial applications such as the road salt sector. 

Today, Canada applies an average of six million tonnes of road salt per year to melt snow and ice, the highest rate of usage in the world. 

Road salts have long been identified as toxic to the environment and cause substantial infrastructure damage to bridges, trucks and automobiles owing to the long-term cumulative impact of corrosion. 

A 2019 study by the American Automobile Association found road salt could be costing car owners as much as US$3 billion annually in repair costs.

Once it dissolves into snow and ice, run-off road salt drains into groundwater, ponds, lakes, streams and rivers. Road salt pollution is largely blamed for increasing salinity in the lower Great Lakes, which has risen eight to 10 times above historic levels.

"Putting ourselves in a position to address the environmental and infrastructural damage caused by road salts is something we are envisioning down the road," Larocque said. "This is part of our strategy of focusing on specific, niche applications."

One of the obstacles facing Electro Carbon in any future bid to transition Canada away from road salts is its relatively low cost - $65 per tonne - a price point that will be difficult to match even after scaling-up production.

Larocque, however, believes government needs to take into account the cumulative infrastructure costs of road salt.

"Multiple studies have demonstrated that road salt causes damages to the infrastructure up to about 20 times the cost of its purchase price . . . So we need to convince (road authorities) to exercise long-term vision and invest a little more in de-icing solutions . . . to create long-term positive impacts for our infrastructure and our environment."