Elon Musk has recently promised to award $100 million to anyone who develops the best carbon capture technology. (Image Credit: Unsplash)
On January 21st, 2021, Elon Musk announced that he is promising to pay a $100 million prize for the best carbon capture technology. Capturing carbon dioxide emissions is becoming increasingly important to limit the effects of climate change. However, there is very little progress on the technology. So far, efforts have focused on reducing emissions instead of removing carbon from the air.
A huge jump in deploying carbon capture technology is needed if countries are to meet net-zero emissions targets.
“Am donating $100M towards a prize for best carbon capture technology,” Musk wrote in a tweet, then wrote, “Details next week.”
Musk is referring to a variety of unrealized concepts that would focus on slowing down climate change. This involves pulling carbon out of the air and either using or isolating it. That way, it won’t cause more warming. However, experts are worried that it may not scale enough to impact the global climate. It could also give corporations an excuse to continue poor environmental habits.
Musk has also had an abundance of financial luck lately due to Tesla’s rising stock. He shortly became the world’s wealthiest person before Jeff Bezos took over the top spot again. This wealth boost put him in a position to ask the public for new ideas on how to donate money.
Have a story tip? Message me at: http://twitter.com/Cabe_Atwell