A burgeoning Ottawa cleantech firm that’s already landed Shopify as a customer for its “carbon-capture” technology that aims to reduce greenhouse gases is relocating most of its employees to Nova Scotia, the company said this week. Launched in 2019, Planetary Hydrogen has created a patented system that speeds up the natural process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Dubbed SeaOH2, the system uses renewable electricity to split ocean water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, a process known as electrolysis. Adding mineral salt to the electrolysis cell creates an atmosphere-scrubbing compound called mineral hydroxide as a waste product. The hydroxide binds with carbon dioxide, effectively “capturing” the gas while producing hydrogen – an increasingly sought-after green alternative to fossil fuels – as a potentially lucrative byproduct.