Business Wire

CA-XPRIZE

Share
XPRIZE and Musk Foundation Announce Guidelines and Open Registration for $100M XPRIZE Carbon Removal

XPRIZE , the global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grand challenges, today announced the official launch of $100 Million XPRIZE Carbon Removal with the opening of team registration and the release of the competition guidelines. The announcement comes shortly after Peter H. Diamandis , XPRIZE founder and executive chairman, and Elon Musk sat down for a live stream hosted on Twitter to discuss the importance of spurring carbon removal solutions, the climate crisis, and the launch of the largest incentive prize in history. The conversation was followed by a virtual question and answer hosted by Marcius Extavour , vice president of climate and environment at XPRIZE, and XPRIZE’s chief impact officer, Zenia Tata .

Funded by the Musk Foundation, $100M XPRIZE Carbon Removal is aimed at tackling climate change by asking global innovators to develop solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans and lock it away permanently in an environmentally benign method.

The climate math is becoming clear that we will need gigaton-scale carbon removal in the coming decades to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates the need at approximately 10 gigatonnes per year of net CO2 removal by 2050. As governments, companies, investors, and entrepreneurs make plans to meet this challenge, it is clear that we will need a range of solutions to be proven through demonstration and deployment to complement work that is already underway.

This four-year global competition invites innovators and teams from anywhere on the planet to create and demonstrate solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans. To win the grand prize, teams must demonstrate a working solution at a scale of at least 1000 tonnes removed per year; model their costs at a scale of 1 million tonnes per year; and show a pathway to achieving a scale of gigatonnes per year in future. All demonstrations must be validated by a third party. In the first of two competition phases, teams must demonstrate the key component of their carbon removal solutions at smaller scale, not the full operating solution. Fully operational solutions are required to win. 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 shows a sustainable path to ultimately achieving gigatonne scale.

“The goal of this CO2 Removal XPRIZE is to turn ideas into demonstration, and turn powerpoint solutions into hardware,” said Peter H. Diamandis, founder and executive chairman of XPRIZE . “By launching the largest prize competition in history, our hope is to focus the brainpower of engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs around the world to build solutions that actually work, at low-cost and at massive scale. We know that our incentive prize competition models deliver huge philanthropic leverage. Typically driving 10x to 40x the prize purse spent by all the teams to achieve the goal. XPRIZE pays for demonstrated solutions versus ideas. So, we’re excited to see that same level of impact with this challenge. Many thanks to Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation.”

Throughout the competition, $100 million in prize purses will be distributed in the following manner:

Teams can enter the competition at any stage. XPRIZE is looking for the best solutions, whether they competed in earlier rounds or not. After 1 year of competition the judges will review the progress of competitors at that time and award up to 15 Milestone Prizes of $1 million each.

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.

In 2024, after developing their solutions, teams are invited to apply to be considered as Finalists, and be visited by XPRIZE to validate their solution’s performance in person. In 2025 after 4 years, judges will select the winners:

  • US$50 million paid to the single Grand Prize Winner
  • US$30 million to be distributed among up to 3 runners up

“It should be clear to everyone in 2021 that climate change poses an existential threat, and that our CO2 emissions are a leading cause,” said Marcius Extavour, vice president of climate and environment at XPRIZE . “Even as we race to get to net zero, the climate math tells us that we must also accelerate the development and deployment solutions that can be carbon negative. That’s what this prize is all about.”

‘’It’s not too late to create a better future, but doing that will take a group effort and companies facilitating the development of bold innovations. We’re looking forward to seeing what teams develop over the next four years and witnessing how their creations have a first hand impact on mitigating the climate crisis. Starting now.’’

For more information on XPRIZE Carbon Removal, to view the prize guidelines or to register, please visit xprize.org/carbonremoval .

About XPRIZE

XPRIZE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grandest challenges. Active competitions include the $20 Million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $10 Million Rainforest XPRIZE, the $10 Million ANA Avatar XPRIZE, the $5 Million IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, $5 Million XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling, $5 Million XPRIZE Rapid COVID Testing, and $500K Pandemic Response Challenge. For more information, visit xprize.org.

About The Musk Foundation

The Musk Foundation creates grants are made in support of: renewable energy research and advocacy; human space exploration research and advocacy; pediatric research; science and engineering education; and development of safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity

Link:

ClickThru

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

SCENTMATIC's AI "KAORIUM" Debuts at THAMEEN Fragrance Launch in London's Selfridges4.7.2025 11:13:00 CEST | Press release

SCENTMATIC Inc., a leader in scent digitalization, introduced its AI-powered scent-to-language system, KAORIUM, at the THAMEEN Fragrance new product launch event. This pivotal event took place from June 5 to 11, 2025, at Selfridges department store in London, UK. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250703662207/en/ State of exhibition Global Expansion: KAORIUM Establishes UK Presence Europe leads the global fragrance market, with the UK projected to reach US$2.82 billion by 2033. Recognizing this, SCENTMATIC is rapidly expanding its international footprint. In May 2024, SCENTMATIC established its overseas subsidiary, KAORIUM, in London, appointing industry expert Ben Yanoushek as CEO. Official UK operations commenced on February 1, 2025, with the launch of its dedicated website: www.kaorium.com. KAORIUM Trialed at "Florentine Diamond" Launch Event The "Florentine Diamond" launch event for luxury brand THAMEEN Frag

Andersen Consulting samarbejder med Mercurial Minds om at forbedre mulighederne inden for digital transformation4.7.2025 01:10:00 CEST | Pressemeddelelse

Andersen Consulting udvider sit udbud af teknologidrevne løsninger med tilføjelsen af samarbejdsfirmaet Mercurial Minds (M.M.), et konsulentfirma inden for digital transformation, AI og IT med base i Pakistan. M.M. blev grundlagt i 2013 og tilbyder en række tjenester, der er designet til at hjælpe organisationer med at udvikle sig og skalere, herunder i forbindelse med deres digitale transformationsstrategi, AI-tjenester, it-rådgivning og udvikling af robuste mobil- og webbrugeroplevelser. Firmaet leverer end-to-end-løsninger – udformning af datadrevne køreplaner, udvikling af intelligent automatisering og levering af sikre mobil- og weboplevelser, der kan skaleres – skræddersyet til virksomheder, der ønsker at forbedre sine forbindelsesmulighederne og opnå indsigter i realtid. M.M. betjener en bred vifte af brancher med fokus på finans, telekommunikation og andre dataintensive sektorer. "Dette samarbejde er en katalysator," siger Nabeel Saiyer, administrerende direktør for M.M. "Vores

Global Tourism Surging Ahead of Economic Growth, With Visits to Hit 30 Billion by 20344.7.2025 01:00:00 CEST | Press release

The World Economic Forum report, in collaboration with Kearney and the Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia, predicts a significant uptick in tourist trips across the globeThe tourism sector will contribute $16 trillion to global GDP (more than 11% of the global economy) by 2034, according to World Travel & Tourism Council estimates (WTTC)India and China will be responsible for more than 25% of all outbound travel by 2030 The World Economic Forum has today published a new report forecasting that the travel and tourism industry is projected to serve 30 billion tourist trips by 2034. Travel and Tourism at a Turning Point: Principles for Transformative Growth, produced in collaboration with Kearney and the Ministry of Tourism Saudi Arabia, reveals a projected $16 trillion contribution to global GDP by the same year—representing more than 11% of the total world economy, according to World Travel & Tourism Council estimates. The report also found that the sector is expanding 1.5 times faster th

The 2025-2026 World Branding Awards Animalis Edition Honouring Leading Pet and Animal Brands Globally3.7.2025 21:00:00 CEST | Press release

The 2025-2026 World Branding Awards Animalis Edition marked its fifth instalment, bringing together leading pet and animal brands from all around the world. These brands were celebrated for their outstanding achievements, earning recognition as National, Regional, and Global Winners. The awards ceremony, held at Vienna's prestigious Hofburg Palace, welcomed winners across diverse categories, including pet food, retail, wellness, pet exhibitions, and aquatic products. Mounia Berrada-Gouzi expertly hosted the evening, which culminated in a grand celebration of brand excellence. “The Animalis Edition of the World Branding Awards recognises brands that have achieved the highest distinction—genuine recognition in the hearts and minds of consumers. Tonight, we honour those whose names resonate globally, whose values inspire loyalty, and whose presence defines excellence in the pet and animal industry,” said Richard Rowles, Chairman of the World Branding Forum. Out of over 950 brands nominate

Venture Global Announces 20-Year Sales and Purchase Agreement with PETRONAS3.7.2025 14:59:00 CEST | Press release

Today, Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE: VG) announced the execution of a new 20-year Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with PETRONAS LNG Ltd. (PLL), a subsidiary of the Malaysian state-owned oil and gas company, PETRONAS. Under the terms of the SPA, PETRONAS will purchase 1 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Venture Global’s third facility, CP2 LNG, for 20 years. This builds upon Venture Global’s existing agreement with PETRONAS for 1 MTPA of LNG supply from Plaquemines LNG. PETRONAS, a world-class partner in the LNG industry, joins other CP2 LNG customers in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world in a strategically important project to global energy supply and security. To date, approximately 10.75 MTPA of the 14.4 MTPA nameplate capacity for CP2 Phase One has been sold. About Venture Global Venture Global is a long-term, low-cost provider of U.S. LNG sourced from resource rich North American natural gas basins. Venture Global’s business includes assets ac

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye