Key details
- Host: Elon Musk Foundation
- Open to: All nationals
- Target: Engineers, Scientist, Entrepreneurs
- Deadline: Varies
Applications for the 2021 XPRIZE Carbon Renewal Competition is currently ongoing
About the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition 2021
The XPRIZE Carbon Removal aims to address humanity’s greatest challenge: combating climate change and rebalancing the carbon cycle on Earth. This $100 million competition, sponsored by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation, is the world’s largest incentive prize, marking a significant milestone.
To stop the worst consequences of climate change, we will need gigaton-scale carbon removal in the coming decades, according to the climate math. By 2050, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that approximately 10 gigatonnes of net CO2 removal would be needed to maintain global temperature rise below 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius.
As governments, businesses, investors, and entrepreneurs devise strategies to address this challenge, it is clear that we will need a variety of carbon reduction solutions to be demonstrated and deployed in addition to the work that is already underway. If mankind continues on its current course, the global average temperature will rise by 6 degrees Celsius by the year 2100.
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The XPRIZE Carbon Removal is a four year global competition inviting innovators and teams from all over the world to develop and demonstrate technologies that can directly pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or oceans and sequester it in a long-term and sustainable manner. Teams must demonstrate a working solution at a scale of at least 1000 tonnes extracted per year, model their costs at a scale of 1 million tonnes per year, and display a path to reaching a scale of gigatonnes per year in the future to win the grand prize.
Eligibility
- Any carbon negative solution is eligible: nature-based, direct air capture, oceans, mineralization, or anything else that achieves net negative emissions, sequesters CO2 durably, and show a sustainable path to achieving low cost at gigatonne scale.
- XPRIZE believes that solutions can come from anyone, anywhere: Scientists, engineers, 167 academics, entrepreneurs, and other innovators from all over the world are invited to form a 168 team and register to compete.
Benefit
The judges will review all submissions received by that time and award up to 15 Milestone Prizes of $1 million each after a year of competition. These awards can be given on a conditional basis at the judges’ discretion, contingent on the team’s demonstrated willingness to continue to refine and advance their solutions and qualify for the Grand Prize.
After 4 years, judges will select the winners:
- $50 million paid to the single Grand Prize Winner
- $30 million to be distributed among up to 3 runners up
XPRIZE will also award up to US$5M to student teams in the Fall of 2021. These awards may fund participation in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal or the development of key supportive technologies.
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Application Procedure
Team registration will remain open throughout the prize. The following deadlines apply:
- Registration for the Student Awards will close October 1, 2021 18:59:59 UTC
- Registration for the Milestone Awards will close December 1, 2021 18:59:59 UTC
- Registration for the Grand Prize will close December 1, 2023 18:59:59 UTC
Interested candidates who wish to apply can click the button below:
For more information see FAQs or visit the official website of XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition