Kathairos Solutions this month announced a milestone.
The Calgary-based oilfield services company is committed to eliminating routine methane venting from oil and gas operations by replacing natural gas with liquid nitrogen to actuate pneumatic devices across upstream and midstream operations.
The Alberta cleantech says its nitrogen systems have directly eliminated one million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent, which, at methane’s high potency, works out to around 36,000 tonnes.
Reaching this figure “is a significant milestone,” says Alberta Minister of Environment and Protected Areas Grant Hunter.
The achievement “reflects the value of practical, deployable solutions that help industry reduce methane emissions at scale,” suggests Bryan Helfenbaum, Chief Operating Officer for the Clean Resource Innovation Network.
Each day, Kathairos’ technology now achieves the daily equivalent to planting 20,000 trees, according to a statement from the firm.
“It’s remarkable to think about the impact that thousands of small changes can create over time,” says Amanda Hehr, President of Kathairos. “Crossing one million tonnes moves well beyond a traditional corporate sustainability metric and into the realm of true infrastructure-scale environmental change.”
Kathairos now has more than 3,000 liquid nitrogen systems deployed in North America across over 70 companies.
“Technologies such as Kathairos’ nitrogen system demonstrate how innovation can help address long-standing challenges with smart, effective solutions,” remarked Justin Riemer, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta, which financially supported Kathairos in 2024.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the company is “helping Alberta with its commitment of achieving a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, while aligning closely with the province’s Methane Reduction Deployment Program.”
Kathairos was founded in 2020 by Dick Brown, who says that “our name means ‘clean air’ and we are proud to champion imperative solutions that support today’s evolving energy industry, and the people and producers working tirelessly toward the cleanest production practices possible.”