Carbon Removal Newsroom

The Carbon Removal XPRIZE Announces Their 20 Finalists

May 21, 2024

The XPRIZE announces 20 finalists for a $50 million CDR startup prize. Over 1000 teams applied worldwide. Detailed report on top 100 teams released. Podcast discusses selection process, methodologies, and industry analysis. Future plans for the competition and how finalists were chosen.

38:10

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Quick takeaways

X-Prize competition offers $50 million to the winning CDR startup with $10 million to three runner-up teams, promoting innovation and scalability in carbon removal technologies.

X-Prize finalists focus on diverse pathways like direct air capture, land-based removal, ocean-based removal, and rock-based removal, emphasizing social sustainability and community engagement in carbon removal projects.

Deep dives

X-Prize Competition for Largest Funding Source in CDR Startups

The X-Prize competition, funded by Elon Musk, offers $50 million to the winning CDR startup in 2025, with $10 million awarded to three runner-up teams. The competition received applications from over a thousand teams globally. X-Prize recently released the Getting to Gigaton report, analyzing data from the top 100 teams and announced the top 20 finalists.

Introduction

2min

Carbon Removal X-Prize Finalists Announced

14min

Navigating Carbon Removal XPRIZE Selection Process

6min

Analysis of Biochar Production in Carbon Removal Industry

2min

Selecting Finalists for Carbon Removal Competition

12min

Promoting Public Support for Carbon Removal Through Storytelling and Awareness

3min

The XPRIZE remains one of the top stories in carbon removal and one of the largest funding sources for CDR start-ups. The Elon Musk-backed competition will award $50 million to the winning CDR startup in 2025 and send $10 million to three other runner-up teams.

Over 1000 teams worldwide have applied since the award was announced in 2021.

This month, XPRIZE released the detailed “Getting to Gigaton” report, which provided comprehensive data and analysis of the top 100 teams. A few weeks later, they announced the top 20 finalist teams competing for the grand prize.

The report and the selection of the top teams provide a state of play for the industry by showing what methodologies are most ready to grow to a gigaton scale, according to XPRIZE's expert CDR judges.

Today's show is with Nikki Batchelor, the Executive Director of XPRIZE Carbon Removal, and Mike Leitch, the Senior Technical Lead, about how they selected the top 20, what they found in this report, and what comes next for the competition.

On This Episode

Nikki Batchelor

Mike Leitch

⁠Radhika Moolgavkar⁠

Resources

“Getting to Gigaton”⁠ report

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Nori’s other podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠

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