Algae a winner in Elon Musk-funded greenhouse gas contest
By MEAD GRUVER
Associated Press
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Ideas for reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere are getting a funding boost from famed entrepreneur Elon Musk. The Tesla electric vehicle and SpaceX rocket company developer is bankrolling a $100 million XPRIZE competition for the most promising ways to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by grabbing the gas out of the air. The 15 initial “milestone round” winners of the contest announced Friday will get $1 million each, helping the teams to carry on with and scale up their work. Winning ideas range from restoring rain forests by farming algae on cleared lands to producing a sort of artificial limestone with a process mimicking ocean chemistry.
