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GRUENHEIDE, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 3: Tesla chief Elon Musk speaks to the press as he arrives to take a look at the construction site of the new Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin on September 3, 2020 near Gruenheide, Germany. Musk is currently in Germany where he met with vaccine maker CureVac, with whom Tesla is cooperating to build RNA vaccine production devices, on Tuesday, as well as German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier yesterday.
Maja Hitij | Getty Images
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that he is donating $ 100 million for a prize for the best technology capable of capturing carbon dioxide.
Musk, who passed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world this month, made the announcement on Twitter Thursday night, saying he would share more details next week.
“I’m giving $ 100 million for a prize for the best carbon capture technology,” Musk tweeted to his 42.7 million subscribers.
Carbon capture is the process of trapping residual carbon dioxide, either directly from the air or just before it is emitted from factories and power stations.
With the latter, the first step is often to install solvent filters on factory chimneys, which capture carbon emissions before they are released into the earth’s atmosphere. Once captured, the carbon dioxide can then be shipped or channeled to a place it cannot escape (often deep underground) to prevent it from contributing to global warming.
Most of the captured carbon dioxide remains underground, but some can also be used to make plastics and soft drinks.
Why is carbon capture necessary?
Global emissions of carbon dioxide have skyrocketed over the past 100 years, causing unprecedented global warming and climate change.
According to the International Energy Agency, there are currently around 20 carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) projects operating around the world.
The agency said 30 new projects had been approved since 2017, but stressed that much more was needed to prevent carbon emissions from raising the temperature on Earth more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The IEA believes that CCUS projects could reduce carbon emissions by nearly a fifth, while reducing the cost of tackling the climate crisis by 70%. The adaptation of heavy industry to clean energy is relatively difficult and expensive compared to installing carbon capture systems.
US President Joe Biden has pledged to put more emphasis on reducing emissions than his predecessor and has said he wants the United States to be carbon neutral by 2050.
‘Plant more trees’
The award Musk said he would contribute to is tied to the Xprize Foundation, TechCrunch reported, citing an anonymous source. The foundation is a non-profit organization that organizes competitions to promote and support innovation.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Musk has a total net worth of $ 201 billion, while Bezos has $ 193 billion. Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the next richest person, with a total net worth of $ 134 billion.
Musk recently asked his Twitter followers what to do with his money.
“Critical comments are always greatly appreciated, as well as ways to donate money that really make a difference (much harder than it looks),” he tweeted on Jan. 8.
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