Carbon XPrize taps finalists

Ten teams from the U.S., Canada, China, India, and Scotland have advanced to the final round of the $20 million NRG Cosia Carbon XPrize. The teams were challenged to develop technologies that capture waste CO₂ from power plants and transform it into valuable materials. Awardees include four teams with processes that use CO₂ to cure concrete or produce carbonate materials for construction. One of them, Canada-based CarbonCure, has already commercialized its technology and hopes to expand. The Indian team Breathe is developing a catalyst to convert the greenhouse gas into methanol, while Cert uses an electrochemical process to produce fuels and chemical feedstocks. Scotland’s C2CNT wants to upgrade CO₂ into carbon nanotubes, while Carbon Upcycling, a Canadian team, is targeting other material-strengthening nanoparticles. China’s C4X and U.S.-based Newlight Technologies made the cut with proposals to make polymers from CO₂. Each team will receive $500,000 and will travel to one of two power-plant test sites for a chance to scale up their process and win one of two $7.5 million grand prizes. The contest ends in March 2020.