Carbon prize

(cont'd)

In addition to the Lunar Prize (Tuesday's post), XPrize intends to give $20 million away in competition for the Carbon Prize. "Teams will be scored on how much CO₂  they convert and the net value of their products."

The winning team will be the one that does the best job of capturing carbon dioxide, a gas, and transforming it into something of value. 

Already CO2 is a component  in lots of things, like baking soda, durable plastics (think Legos), cement, concrete. The competing teams are working on fuels, nanotubes, and much more.

"The diversity of products we can make from CO₂ is truly astounding. Imagine a world where one of our greatest liabilities (CO₂) becomes an asset." 

Wait . . I can't agree with XPrize on that last point. The gas that is essential for all green plant life - and thus most of life on earth - just shouldn't be called "one of our greatest liabilities." It is an asset, a life enabler. If it can also be made into additional useful things because of this contest, all the better.