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Carbon Xprize chooses the 27 best solutions for CO2 emissions

Participants have to prove their technology works before winning $20 million.

Mariella Moon
Contributing Reporter
Updated ·4 min read
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Twenty-eight teams made it through the $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon Xprize's first round. Now, they have to start proving that they can truly transform a meaningful amount of carbon dioxide emissions into useful products. The semi-finalists from various universities, startups, big companies and non-profits all over the globe will do a test run of their technology over a ten-month period. Judges will look at how much CO2 they can convert, as well as the value of their products.

The ten teams that make it to round three will split $2.5 million to be able to participate in the finals, wherein they'll have to do large-scale testing under real world conditions. They'll even be stationed right next to actual power plants.

As you can see below, the semi-finalists are divided into two tracks: one group will work on coal, while the other will work on natural gas, though there are quite a few overlaps. It looks like most of the teams want to make concrete and different types of fuel from the carbon emissions they collect. Some of them have pretty interesting products in mind, though, including pet food and even toothpaste.

Competition Track A (coal) includes 12 teams creating technologies for use at a coal power plant:

  • Aljadix (Switzerland) – Led by Thomas Digby, the team is producing carbon negative biofuel.

  • Breathe (India) – Led by Sebastian Peter, the team is producing methanol.

  • C4X (China) – Led by Wayne Song, the team is producing methanol and bio-composite boards.

  • Carbon Capture Machine (Scotland) – Led by Mohammed Imbabi, the team is producing solid carbonates.

  • Carbon Cure (Canada) – Led by Jennifer Wagner, the team is producing enhanced concrete.

  • Carbon Upcycling Technologies (Canada) – Led by Apoorv Sinha, the team is producing graphitic nanoparticles.

  • Carbon Upcycling UCLA (United States) – Led by J.R. DeShazo, the team is producing 3D-printed concrete replacement building material.

  • EE-AGG (United States) – Led by Mark Edelman, the team is producing methanol.

  • Innovator Energy (United States) – Led by Ethan Novek, the team is producing syngas and acetic acid.

  • Low-Energy-Consumption CO2 Capture and Conversion (United States) – Led by Maohong Fan, the team is producing fuels and chemicals.

  • Opus 12 (United States) – Led by Etosha Cave, the team is producing plastics, fertilizers, and gasoline.

  • Terra COH (United States) –Led by Jimmy Randolph, the team is producing energy storage and retrieval, and electricity generation.

Competition Track B (natural gas) includes 21 teams creating technologies for use at a natural gas power plant:

  • C2CNF (United States) – Led by Stuart Licht, the team is producing carbon nanotubes.

  • Carbicrete (Canada) – Led by Yuri Mytko, the team is producing carbon-negative construction blocks.

  • Carbon Cure (Canada) – Led by Jennifer Wagner, the team is producing enhanced concrete.

  • Carbon Upcycling Technologies (Canada) – Led by Apoorv Sinha, the team is producing graphene nanoplatelets.

  • Carbon Upcycling UCLA (United States) – Led by J.R. DeShazo, the team is producing 3D-printed concrete replacement building material.

  • CAT.ALY.ST (United States) – Led by Stafford Sheehan, the team is producing biofuels.

  • CERT (Canada) – Led by Ted Sargent, the team is producing formic acid.

  • CO2 Solutions (Canada (TSX-V: CST)) – Led by Dr. Louis Fradette, the team is producing a high-value bioproduct.

  • Dimensional Energy (United States) – Led by Jason Salfi, the team is producing hydrocarbon fuels.

  • EE-AGG (United States) – Led by Mark Edelman, the team is producing methanol.

  • Hago Energetics (United States) – Led by Wilson Hago, the team is producing gas and liquid fuels.

  • Ingenuity Lab (Canada) – Led by Carlo Montemagno, the team is producing dihydroxyacetone (DHA) and other chemicals.

  • Innovator Energy (United States) – Led by Ethan Novek, the team is producing syngas and acetic acid.

  • Low-Energy-Consumption CO2 Capture and Conversion (United States) – Led by Maohong Fan, the team is producing fuels and chemicals.

  • Newlight (United States) – Led by Mark Herrema, the team is producing polymers.

  • Pond Technology's Carbon Cyclers (Canada) – Led by Peter Howard, the team is producing biodiesel and solid biofuel.

  • Protein Power (United States) – Led by Lisa Dyson, the team is producing high-protein fish food.

  • RES Kaidi (United States) – Led by Mark Robertson, the team is producing dimethyl ether (DME) for chemical feedstock or fuel.

  • Tandem Technical (Canada) – Led by Jerry Flynn, the team is producing health supplements, toothpaste, paint and fertilizers.

  • Terra CO2 Technologies (Canada) – Led by Dylan Jones, the team is producing metal carbonate compounds and sulphur byproducts.

  • White Dog Labs (United States) – Led by Bryan Tracy, the team is producing acetone.

Update: The Xprize spokesperson sent us an updated list, and only 27 teams made it to the semi-finals, not 28.