Elon Musk Funds $100 Million Carbon Removal Competition by PrizeX

A $100 million Carbon Removal Competition was recently announced by XPrize along with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday, which was also Earth Day.

“We want teams to build real systems that can make a measurable impact at a gigaton level. Whatever it takes. Time is of the essence,” said Musk.

According to the competition’s website, the primary aim is to invite and incentivize innovators and teams around the world who will be able to create large-scale projects that “can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans, and sequester it durably and sustainably.”

The site also mentions that any carbon-negative solution is eligible. Winning the grand prize entails that teams are able to demonstrate their working solutions have the capacity to remove 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, “model their costs at a scale of 1 million tonnes per year,” and present a road towards “achieving a scale of gigatonnes per year in future.”

This competition is primarily funded by Musk and the Musk Foundation, and the $100 million prize purse will be distributed in a particular manner:

• After the first year, “judges will review all submissions received by that time and award up to 15 Milestone Prizes of $1 million each.”
• Winners will be selected after 4 years where judges will determine one grand prize winner who will receive $50 million and three runners-up who will each receive $30 million.

Teams can register by visiting the official website of XPrize. Registration officially opened on Earth Day, April 22, 2021. The competition will last for 4 years until Earth Day 2025.

Source: Entrepreneur, XPrize