Healthy rivers are essential for a healthy planet. That’s why we’re helping restore the natural ability of rivers to carry carbon to the sea for long-term storage.
Many of our watersheds have been harmed by a toxic legacy of acid rain. Acidification of rivers has harmed aquatic biodiversity and natural carbon removal.
A healthy river with natural alkaline minerals transforms CO₂ into bicarbonate. Many marine organisms need this to build their shells. The leftover bicarbonate is delivered by rivers to the ocean for long-term storage. But this cycle has been disrupted by acidification, causing more CO₂ to go back into the atmosphere.
CarbonRun is a Nova Scotia-based company that is the first in the world to use a safe, proven river restoration approach to decrease river acidity in a way that also naturally delivers carbon to the ocean, preventing it from returning to the atmosphere. Rivers as a force for change.
CarbonRun decreases the acidity of rivers to combat the negative effects of acid rain, restore their health, and protect biodiversity. The restored rivers boost fisheries and aquaculture, improve water quality, and de-acidify critical coastal regions.
CarbonRun is committed to ensuring that communities benefit from the project by creating local economic impact and a restored river ecosystem. We are thoughtfully creating place-based projects supporting rural and Indigenous communities, and growing a team of skilled trade workers in construction, production, trucking, and data collection.
We urgently need safe, permanent, and scalable ways to remove carbon from our atmosphere. By bringing our natural approach to scale in regions around the world with large-scale but degraded river systems, CarbonRun's solution can draw down 10-15% of the required carbon dioxide to meet the global need projected by 2050.
CarbonRun is a first-of-its-kind, Canadian-made technology that mobilizes river science to rebalance river acidity levels, resulting in great ecological benefits while safely and verifiably drawing down CO2. Producing natural limestone powder involves just mining, crushing, and transport. This process results in only 5 tons of CO2 emissions for every 100 tons captured, compared to 'lime,' which generates significantly higher emissions.
Our technology is safe, has a small footprint, and is based on decades of real-world applications.
CarbonRun deacidifies rivers and improves river health by adding crushed limestone to rivers impacted by pollution.
Our limestone dosers have a small footprint and minimal impact on the ecosystem.
The crushed limestone dissolves rapidly, converting CO₂ in the rivers into stable, beneficial bicarbonate as well as minerals like calcium and magnesium.
Our process absorbs CO₂ from both the soil and atmosphere and re-establishes key ecological building blocks.
Rivers transport bicarbonate to the ocean, where the carbon is stored for millennia in oceanic reservoirs.
The drawdown of carbon can be directly measured in the river in real time.
Balance is restored to the rivers while also supporting coastal areas and marine life from the impacts of ocean acidification.
Founded and developed in Nova Scotia by an environmental scientist and freshwater ecologist, our team of experts are dedicated to restoring rivers damaged by pollution to protect aquatic life. Our founders are global experts on river ecosystem health with decades of applied experience restoring rivers.
We’ve dedicated our careers to restoring rivers and protecting endangered species. Canada can be a leader in making CarbonRun’s innovations and its economic benefits more widely available.
We meaningfully engage local communities to guide priorities and approaches. Our projects will create new rural technical opportunities and reduce generational kill gaps.
We are committed to respecting, supporting, and learning from Indigenous voices through partnerships, advocacy, and education.
