In July, the Missoula company Sunburst Sensors won a one-point-five million dollar XPRIZE for inventing a device to measure ocean acidification related to global warming. Last week a new, $20 million XPRIZE competition was announced. Its goal is to find ways to transform carbon dioxide from an atmospheric pollutant into useful, everyday products.
The official announcement of the Carbon XPRIZE competition took place at a recent conference in Texas.
Soundbite: “What if we could incentivize innovators to help address climate change by turning CO2 emissions into something we can use.”
The XPRIZE foundation itself is a non-profit that manages contests focused on solving the world’s quote “Grand Challenges” in five areas…one of which is energy and the environment.
Funding for this particular prize comes from energy company NRG and a group of Canadian oil sands companies. The four and a half year competition will test CO2 conversion at an American coal fired power plant and a Canadian natural gas facility.