[ad_1]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Ideas to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, from algae farming to the production of some form of artificial limestone, are receiving funding from renowned entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The Tesla electric vehicle and SpaceX rocket company developer is funding the $100 million XPRIZE Decarbonization competition for the most promising ways to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by removing gas from the air.
The 15 early stage “milestone” winners were announced Friday and will each receive $1 million, a welcome boost for teams to continue and grow their work.
“We said you didn’t give us a million dollars; What you’re doing is accelerating investment in this technology,” said Mike Kelland, CEO of Planetary Technologies, a milestone that aims to increase the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide by controlling the increased acidity of seawater.
The milestone winners are not necessarily ahead or preferred for the final prize money of $80 million, which will be awarded over three years. Until December 1, 2023, anyone can enter and potentially get a share of the money in the competition, which was announced a year ago.
The final winning team or teams will need to demonstrate that they can remove 1,100 tons (1,000 metric tons) of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year and how much it would cost to remove up to 1.1 million tons (1 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide per year. and shows the way to eliminate billions of tons of carbon dioxide per year.
A third party – neither the participants nor XPRIZE – will independently verify the submitted work for the grand prize, which will be announced on April 20, 2025.
XPRIZE announced the $5 million decarbonisation project awards to college student teams last fall. The milestone winners, announced Friday, proposed several ways to remove carbon dioxide artificially and by helping nature do most of the work itself.
Planetary Technologies looks to the ocean, not the sky, to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada-based company proposes using antacids made from metal mining residues to help the ocean absorb more of the greenhouse gas.
“If we kind of ignore the ocean — let’s say we’re trying to do this on land, we’re trying to store it on the ground — we’re not going to succeed,” Kelland said. “This is the view of many scientists working in this field.”
North Carolina-based 8 Rivers Capital, Durham sees ocean chemistry as a model to copy. The winning company seeks to trap atmospheric carbon dioxide in calcium carbonate crystals, similar to how gas dissolved in the ocean helps form seashells and limestone.
Company spokesman Adam Goff described the process as “poetic” in a way.
“The calcium cycle is how the earth regulates its CO2 over millions of years. We’re kind of accelerating this natural cycle,” said Goff.
Santee, California-based Global Algae won out with its algae-growing plan to help regenerate rainforests that capture large amounts of carbon dioxide. Mark Hazlebeck, director of the family business, said the algae could be a more efficient and more profitable alternative to cattle ranching and soy and palm oil crops currently on cleared rainforest lands.
“We actually produce more oil and protein when we replant at the same time,” Hazlebeck said.
The award announcement comes as the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns more strongly than ever of the threat of rising global temperatures, including worsening heat, fires, storms and droughts.
“We still need more, more and deeper emissions cuts and more reliable, validated decarbonisation solutions. That’s why we launched this award,” said Marcius Extavour, vice president and chief scientist for climate and environment at XPRIZE.
XPRIZE is a technology promotion organization known in part for a competition in 2004 that promoted the development of a privately funded, reusable spacecraft. Last year, two teams shared the $15 million XPRIZE prize, demonstrating that they can profitably trap carbon dioxide from chimneys into concrete.
“Even if we stop CO2 production, that’s probably still not enough,” XPRIZE founder and chairman Peter Diamandis said in a 2021 chat with Musk posted on the XPRIZE website. We need mechanisms to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and oceans that do not exist now.”
Musk said the risk of climate catastrophe could become “terrible” if the trend for higher greenhouse gas concentrations continues alongside human population growth and industrialization.
“It’s probably an unwise experiment to run,” Musk said. “Right now we only have one planet. Even if there is a 0.1% chance of disaster, why take that risk? This is madness.”
[ad_2]
Source link