Elon Musk has donated $ 100 million for the best carbon capture technology

Elon Musk wrote on Twitter that he would “donate $ 100 million for a prize for the best carbon capture technology.”

The head of Tesla and SpaceX did not provide any details beyond the tweet, but said “details next week.” The cash rewards for innovation awards are not new. For example, the XPRIZE Foundation is a non-profit organization that facilitates cash prizes to stimulate innovation.

So what is carbon capture technology?

Carbon capture, use and storage or sequestration (CCUS), which is often abbreviated to “carbon capture”, is a process of capturing carbon emissions, either for storage or reuse, to prevent emissions into the atmosphere.

Excess carbon dioxide gases block heat from escaping from the Earth’s atmosphere and cause global warming. Since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has increased atmospheric carbon dioxide by 47% and is “the most important long-term” force “of climate change,” according to NASA.

Using a competition to stimulate innovation in carbon capture technology is “certainly a very good idea,” said Ahmed F. Ghoniem, a professor at MIT who has a research interest in CO2 capture technologies. Innovation in carbon capture technology is needed to “reduce the cost and complexity of technology and improve overall efficiency,” he told CNBC via email.

Carbon capture is not new. There are currently 21 large-scale commercial projects CCUS worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental energy organization based in Paris. The first was established in 1972.

So far, carbon sequestration has been a disappointment.

“The CCUS story has largely been one of the unfulfilled expectations: its potential to mitigate climate change has been recognized for decades, but its deployment has been slow and thus has had only a limited impact on global CO₂ emissions, “says the International Energy Agency.

But that could change. “There are clear signs that CCUS could gain support,” says the IEA.

The US federal government “supports the research and development” of carbon capture both in the search and assessment of the viability of geological sites of carbon storage and in the development of technology to better understand what happens to carbon when it is stored for long periods of time. time, according to the Department of Energy.

Telsa did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Musk, now worth $ 180 billion, according to Forbes, signed The Giving Pledge, a public commitment for billionaires to donate most of their wealth to philanthropy, but has yet to make significant charitable contributions, especially compared to other billionaires. such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.