X Prize: how these companies remove carbon via enhanced weathering

The X Prize Carbon Removal is a $100 million global competition aimed at tackling climate change and rebalancing Earth's carbon cycle. Funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation, this competition is the largest incentive prize in history. The competition seeks to incentivize the development of carbon removal solutions that can achieve net negative emissions, including nature-based, direct air capture, ocean-based, mineralization, and other approaches. The goal is to develop efficient solutions that can collectively achieve the 10-gigaton-per-year carbon removal target by 2050.

The XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition will run for four years, from April 22, 2021 (Earth Day) to Earth Day 2025. The grand prize winner must demonstrate that their innovation is capable of removing 1,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere or oceans and storing it in a safe, cost-effective way.

Carbon mineralization is the process of converting CO₂ into a solid carbonate mineral in order to sequester carbon permanently. Certain rocks, like olivine or basalt, undergo carbon mineralization when exposed to CO₂ and water. Carbon mineralization occurs naturally over hundreds or thousands of years. Enhanced weathering technologies aim to accelerate the natural carbon mineralization process and make it more efficient for carbon capture, storage, and utilization, which can be scaled up to mitigate climate change impacts.

In this article, we introduce three XPRIZE Carbon Removal companies who specialize in enhanced weathering technology.