Blog Musk Plans $100M Award for Carbon-Capture Tech

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk plans to award $100 million for the “best carbon capture technology.”

Musk announced the plan for the prize Thursday in a tweet, saying more details will come next week. 

https://twitter.com/x/status/1352392730408673281

Carbon-capture could be an interesting tool to combat climate change. The idea is counter to many methods today that aim to reduce carbon. Carbon-capture actually extracts carbon from the air.

While it’s obviously an interesting idea, there has not been a breakthrough that advances the technology in a significant way.

Musk has dedicated his time and money to reducing carbon emissions. In many ways Tesla has forced the auto industry into an electric future. Tesla’s cars have actually helped save 3.6 million tons of CO2.

It will be interesting to see if Musk’s prize will accelerate carbon-capture tech.

 

[MXLRplus]

I think that I shall never see a machine more lovely than a tree ... sorry Joyce

 

[h2ofun]

I love the guy. Makes one think outside the box.

 

[1208]

I don't think anyone has patent pended trees. So... "I Patent Pend trees". Now Elon if you could direct message me I will send you my bank account details.

 

[RedTesY]

Use the money to help farmers transition to no till farming. See the movie "Kiss the Ground", on Youtube. That has the potential for immediate and significant affect.

 

[Gladius]

It's a donation not an award

 

[tivoboy]

What are some of the current leading options in this space?

 

[Buckminster]

Could the sabatier process be used? Methane then used to produce fertiliser.

 

[miimura]

I would put money on Elon wanting carbon capture so he could make synthetic methane to put in his rockets.

 

[Buckminster]

World's largest direct air carbon capture facility will reduce CO2 by .0001%

 

[mspohr]

The bitter fight to stop a 2,000 mile carbon pipeline

But critics are concerned that CCS is being treated as an easy fix for the climate crisis, especially by polluters who may rely on the technology to avoid strict emissions reductions. In some instances, captured carbon is used for enhanced oil recovery – a technique that uses liquefied CO2 to flush out residual oil – which serves to entrench fossil fuel production rather than replace it. In Iowa, the pipelines – proposed for ethanol and fertilizer plants and any other agricultural facility that emits carbon dioxide – would transport the CO2 to nearby states, such as North Dakota, which have the right kind of rock formations to store the gas

 

[mspohr]

Fossil fuel producers must be forced to ‘take back’ carbon, say scientists

Fossil fuel companies should be forced to “take back” the carbon dioxide emitted from their products, handing them direct responsibility for cleaning up the climate, a group of scientists has argued. The principle that the producer of pollution should pay for its clean-up is established around the world, but has never been applied to the climate crisis.