Create a free Manufacturing.net account to continue

Manufacturing Minute: Nonprofit Offers $20M Prize For Carbon Pulling Technology

In this episode, a $20 million jackpot for reversing carbon pollution.

A $20 million jackpot for reversing carbon pollution. This is your Manufacturing Minute.

XPRIZE, a California-based nonprofit that previously awarded grants for everything from lunar exploration to health sensors, recently unveiled its latest challenge to engineers and inventors.

The group will dole out a total of $20 million if anyone can successfully extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and recycle it into useful products.

In addition to reducing greenhouse gases, XPRIZE scientists said that carbon, if successfully harnessed, could be implemented in almost limitless ways by humans, from fuels and fabrics to cement and advanced materials.

Registrants at XPRIZE's website will see their systems tested over the next four-plus years in a variety of real-world scenarios.The content mirrors a similar effort by billionaire Richard Branson in 2007, which has identified finalists but has yet to award any prize money.

So, What Do You Think?

Will this contest be the one to help address greenhouse gases? Could an influx of carbon be a boon to global manufacturing?

Email us or leave your comments below.

That’s all the time we have today, but tune in every weekday for your next Manufacturing Minute.
 

More in Energy