Eles Musk, CEO of Tesla, follows the promise to offer $ 100 million for the best carbon capture technology through a new XPRIZE challenge.
Carbon capture, also called ‘carbon capture and storage’ (CCS), are processes that involve the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) at the source of emissions and sequestration so that it cannot leak into the air.
It sometimes also involves technologies to use the carbon for other purposes.
The concept has been proposed as a possible solution to slow down climate change by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere or even reversing it in the future.
However, current carbon capture technologies have often proved inefficient and have cost energy production, making them uncompetitive without carbon prices. The only carbon capture plant in the US has just closed.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last month that he would donate $ 100 million to help develop the best carbon capture technology.
The competition will be hosted by XPRIZE
XPRIZE, a non-profit organization that designs and hosts public competitions designed to encourage technological development for the benefit of mankind, will organize the competition.
They confirmed that the $ 100 million prizes donated by Musk resulted in the largest wallets:
XPRIZE Carbon Removal aims to tackle the greatest threat facing humanity – combating climate change and balancing the earth’s carbon cycle. This $ 100 million competition, funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation, is the largest incentive prize in history, an extraordinary milestone.
The full details of the competition will only be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2021, but they have still released some broader guidelines.
They write on a new website for the match:
To win the competition, teams must demonstrate an accurate, validated scale model of their carbon removal solution, and further demonstrate to a judges that their solution can economically scale to gigaton levels. The goal of this XPRIZE is to inspire effective solutions and help achieve the 10 gigaton carbon removal target per year by 2050, to fight climate change and restore the earth’s carbon balance.
Musk commented on the announcement of the competition:
We want teams to build the right systems that can make a measurable impact at the gigaton level. Whatever it takes. Time is of the essence.
As usual, XPRIZE tries to distribute the prizes in the most optimal way to help develop as much useful technology as possible.
The contest will last up to four years, but after 18 months, 15 finalists will each receive $ 1 million to launch their operating budget to deliver a full-scale demonstration of their carbon capture technology.
In the end, a prize winner will receive $ 50 million, with second and third place winners receiving $ 20 million and $ 10 million respectively.
25 students will also receive $ 200,000 scholarships.
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