XPRIZE and the Musk Foundation have announced that 15 teams have been designated as milestone winners in the $100 million XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition. 

Each of the 15 teams has been awarded $1 million for their work so far to fight climate change and rebalance the Earth’s carbon cycle. In 2025, overall winners will be awarded a total of $80 million.

The teams are pursuing a mix of known solutions and new approaches to carbon removal, including ecosystem restoration, biochar, agricultural solutions, and organic and inorganic ocean solutions. Any solution is eligible to compete as long as it actually works, achieves net negative emissions, sequesters carbon dioxide durably over at least 100 years, and shows a sustainable path to ultimately achieving gigaton scale. The milestone winners represent Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Kenya, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Unlike previous prizes, every team is still eligible to compete and win the grand prize.

“One year in, we already see the positive impact of the prize: hundreds of groups working on a wide range of promising carbon removal solutions. Not just ideas, but development and deployment plans, which is exactly what we need,” said Marcius Extavour, XPRIZE chief scientist and vice president of climate and environment. “The pace and depth of initiatives in carbon removal and other crucial climate solutions has never been greater, but we still need more—more and deeper emissions cuts, and more reliable, validated carbon removal solutions. That’s why we launched this prize in the first place.”

(Photo Credit: Getty Images/small smiles)