Tesla Inc chief Elon Musk announced via Twitter on Thursday that he would offer $100 million prize to anyone who develops the “best” technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions.
“Am donating $100M towards a prize for best carbon capture technology,” Musk wrote in a tweet, followed by a second tweet that promised “Details next week.”
To keep climate change in check, capturing planet-warming emissions has become an important part of many plans. However, very little progress has been made on the technology to date, with efforts focused on cutting emissions rather than taking carbon out of the air.
For countries to meet net-zero emissions targets, a sharp rise in the deployment of carbon capture technology was needed said The International Energy Agency.
U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to speed up the development of carbon capture technology as part of his sweeping plan to tackle climate change. On Thursday, he named Jennifer Wilcox, an expert in carbon removal technologies, as the principal deputy assistant secretary for fossil energy at the U.S. Department of Energy.