Elon Musk to Donate $100M Towards a Prize for Best Carbon Capture Technology

Photo: James Duncan Davidson

CO2 is one of the gases that creates the greenhouse effect, the second after water vapor. And CO2 is the main gas whose atmospheric concentration is influenced by humans, as proven by isotopic analysis. The rise in the level of CO2 in the atmosphere is leading our planet to critical and unpredictable climate change, which is why this problem must be resolved as soon as possible.

In an effort to improve this situation, Tesla CEO Elon Musk began developing products that could reduce CO2 emissions on our planet. Having made an all-in bet, he created Tesla, a company whose mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy, which should lead us to a dramatic reduction in CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

In an effort to continue developing the idea of ​​improving the climate situation on Earth, Musk announced that he will donate $100M as a prize for the best carbon capture technology. He wrote that more details regarding this will be revealed next week.

Details next week

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2021

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the process of capturing waste carbon dioxide (CO2), transporting it to a storage site, and depositing it where it will not enter the atmosphere. Usually, the CO2 is captured from large point sources, such as a cement factory or biomass power plant, and normally it is stored in an underground geological formation. The aim is to prevent the release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere from heavy industry. It is a potential means of mitigating the contribution to global warming and ocean acidification of carbon dioxide emissions from industry and heating. Although CO2 has been injected into geological formations for several decades for various purposes, including enhanced oil recovery, the long-term storage of CO2 is a relatively new concept.

Carbon dioxide can be captured directly from the air or from an industrial source (such as power plant flue gas) using a variety of technologies, including absorption, adsorption, chemical looping, membrane gas separation or gas hydrate technologies. CCS applied to a modern conventional power plant could reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere by approximately 80–90% compared to a plant without CCS.

However, despite the effectiveness of these technologies, they remain very expensive, which is a big obstacle to their adoption. Therefore, it is necessary to create those technologies that will fully meet the requirements, and can become available for widespread use.

For this purpose, Musk wants to finance a project that can help humanity in solving this problem. According to TechCrunch, the Xprize Foundation, a nonprofit organization that runs contests to encourage technological development and innovation, will help Musk find projects that may qualify for donations.

Musk's initiative is commendable. With funds and a great purpose in life, he actively funds organizations that educate and help humanity in solving global problems.

Sources: Wikipedia, TechCrunch, Twitter

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