A new $20 million XPrize competition has been started by a group representing oilsands companies, and the competition is asking people to re-imagine carbon and find new and innovative ways to address this environmental issue. According to Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance chief executive Dan Wicklum the goal of the competition is to identify practical uses for carbon emissions which have been converted. Wicklum explained “The competition will promote and advance the discovery and development of new technologies to take carbon emissions, which are now seen as a liability, and change them into a resource, a valuable, usable product.” Wicklum also went on to say that climate change is now “one of the biggest challenges facing the planet,” and the executive explained that carbon emissions are a contributing factor to climate chain.
During the launch of the XPrize competition for carbon emissions Wicklum told an excited group of people “We’re part of the global problem, but today is about taking a leadership role in becoming part of the global solution. Today we’re throwing down the gauntlet, we are lighting a fire under the brightest minds in the world. Under any scenario, petroleum will be a part of our energy mix in the foreseeable future, so it just makes sense to work on reducing emissions, but also on the game changing technologies too. So it’s a balanced approach.” The XPrize competition will be open for 4 and a half years, and to win a team must be the team which converts the highest amount of carbon emissions into products that have the highest net value and the lowest impact on the environment.