XPrize Carbon Removal narrows teams down to 20 finalists

Cutting carbon dioxide emissions is both crucial and insufficient, according to the most recent report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Society will need to claw back a lot of the CO₂ humans have already released into the atmosphere to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

XPrize Carbon Removal is a technology contest that aims to help answer that call. The contest spreads a $100 million donation from billionaire Elon Musk across several teams commercializing technologies that remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. The contest organizers have now narrowed down the initial crop of more than 1,300 entrants to 20 finalists.

The companies in this final round are split almost evenly among four carbon removal methods: direct air capture, mineralization, biochar creation, and direct ocean removal. To qualify for the grand prize, the firms must deploy and operate pilot plants that capture CO₂ at a rate of 1,000 metric tons (t) per year or better. The XPrize judges will select the winner on the basis of the technology’s potential to scale up to 1 billion t of CO₂ removal by 2050.

The grand-prize winner, to be selected in April 2025, will get $50 million, runners-up will split $30 million, 15 milestone winners have already been awarded $1 million apiece, and $5 million total went to student teams.

Captura, one of the finalists, says the contest is helping bring attention to direct ocean removal firms. Captura uses electrodialysis membranes to strip CO₂ out of seawater, a process it says can scale at lower cost than direct air capture. CO₂ from the air then dissolves into the water, leading to a reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.

“Receiving the $1 million milestone award not only provided crucial financial backing during the early stages of Captura’s development but also opened doors to a vast network of resources,” a Captura spokesperson says. “This helped us finance and grow our business, find investors and ultimately close a major $45.3M series A round, and build and demonstrate our first fully working direct ocean capture system.”

Captura has operated a 100 t per year pilot plant in California since the fall. Before the end of 2024, the firm says, it will start up a 1,000 t plant in Norway connected to an undersea CO₂ storage facility called Northern Lights.