Elon Musk Launches $100 Million Carbon Dioxide Removal Competition

The world’s second-richest man, Elon Musk, has announced a $100 million prize for anyone who is able to develop a project that can help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The founder of SpaceX and Tesla, said the XPrize Carbon Removal competition would be a way of creating a new greener, more eco-friendly world, and hopes that the cash prize will motivate the best and the brightest to come up with amazing ideas.

The parameters of the competition mean that it must be a large-scale project that can “pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans, and sequester it durably and sustainably.”

The winning team must also prove that the project can remove 1,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year and model their costs to 1 million tonnes a year with the long-term ambition to withdraw gigatons per-year.

Carbon dioxide is one of the primary causes of global warming as it traps the Sun’s heat within the Earth’s atmosphere, slowly warming it. This then causes extreme weather and the melting of the polar-caps.

The XPrize website reads:

“Without a target you’ll miss every time. XPRIZE competitions have clear, objective and measurable goals and at their most powerful capture the imaginations of people all over the world inspiring everyone into action.”

It continues:

“The world needs crazy ideas. Solutions can come from anyone, anywhere on the planet; engineers, scientists, garage tinkerers, entrepreneurs, innovators, citizen scientists and high school students have embraced the spirit of competition, won millions of dollars in prize purses and helped shape a better future for all. Every one of us has the power to make a difference.”

The announcement of the four-year competition was made on Earth Day, when around the world the environment is celebrated, and environmental issues are raised.

In the first year of the competition, prizes of $1 million will be given to 15 projects. After four years, the judges will pick one overall winner who will receive $50 million, while three runners-up will receive $30 million each. [h/t: Entepreneur]

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