About Us: Press

Prize Capital Report Profiles 90 Unconventional Carbon Capture Technologies

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:37:16 -0800

Prize Capital, LLC today released a supplement to its groundbreaking Carbon Capture and Recycling (CCR) Industry Overview report that profiles emerging technologies that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial facilities. This captured CO2 can subsequently be used by CCR technologies as a feedstock in the production of valuable products such as fuel, building materials, animal feed, specialty chemicals, and plastics, among others, providing end-to-end solutions for industry members.

This new Emerging Carbon Capture Technologies report focuses its examination on “post-combustion” carbon capture technologies, given that this existing power generation infrastructure is where CCR technologies are most applicable. The report is an aggregation of information, data, and developments in the field of carbon capture, with a particular eye towards the targets of recent government funding, given that the government has been by far the industry’s largest funding source.

Carbon capture technologies support efficient carbon recycling

“In our first report, we examined the carbon mitigation option in CCR,” said Matt Peak, Prize Capital’s director of clean technologies and the report’s author. “Yet many CCR technologies and approaches aren’t able to utilize raw flue gas and instead require a relatively pure stream of CO2. In cases such as these, breaking through the challenges associated with conventional carbon capture is essential.”

As the report outlines, current carbon capture technologies have focused on amines and chilled ammonia. These approaches were developed decades ago for use in other industries, such as synthetic ammonia production, H2 production, and limestone calcination, where they have served these industries well given the relatively low volumes of carbon captured and high price points. Yet now that the power industry is examining carbon capture approaches and experimenting with scaling up these existing technologies to meet their volumetric needs and price-points, the industry is realizing that these traditional technologies are falling short. Furthermore, the current requisite hundreds of millions of dollars of investment required to capture and separate CO2 must be radically reduced for carbon capture from power plants to be viable.

Seven technology categories receive significant federal funding

In order to spur advancements, governments around the world have provided billions of dollars in funding to support the development of carbon capture breakthroughs. In the United States, the Department of Energy (DOE) has been actively funding technological development of advanced technologies for a decade, and has dramatically increased its level of financial support in recent years, largely through its National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).
The new report profiles breakthrough technologies that have been targeted by these agencies in the areas of solvents, enzyme-based systems, physical sorbents, precipitated calcium carbonate, ionic liquids, gas separation membranes, and metal organic frameworks (MOFs).

Electric utilities seek end-to-end solution

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a consumer-owned, not-for-profit wholesale power supplier serving 44 electric cooperatives in four western states, sponsored the report to help identify the range of carbon capture technology opportunities that could work with the emerging CCR technologies and in turn assist the power supplier to cost effectively manage carbon emissions.
“We seek an end-to-end solution,” said Ken Anderson, Tri-State’s chief executive officer. “A solution that can plug in to power plants and convert carbon that is currently emitted or thrown away into a product that creates value, and can help ensure cost-effective solutions to keep electric power affordable and reliable.”

As the new report outlines, arriving at an end-to-end solution will require cross-pollination between the CCR and carbon capture industries and a significant level of experimentation to determine which combination of CCR and carbon capture technologies perform best. Given that there are 136 (and counting) emerging CCR entities and 90 emerging carbon capture entities presented in this new report alone, simply providing a platform to allow these various entities to experiment with each other leaves the door open for nearly 13,000 possible end-to-end solutions.

The report concludes that the key to realizing the reality and potential of end-to-end solutions is constructing the platform that allows for and encourages just such experimentations, promoting collaborative competition resulting in the diversification of innovation.

The report is available as a supplement to Prize Capital’s Carbon Capture and Recycling (CCR) Industry Overview report, which is available via the Prize Capital website: http://www.prizecapital.net

About Prize Capital, LLC Prize Capital, LLC was established by entrepreneur and environmentalist Lee Stein to provide capital to environmental start-ups worldwide while reducing risk for investors. Its proprietary methodology diversifies risk and widens market access, enabling Prize Capital to deliver capital to innovators from early-stage companies not served within current financial markets. Prize Capital’s parallel investment funds mitigate risk through a unique option equity strategy and create additional leverage through the prize mechanism. For additional information, visit www.prizecapital.net

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CONTACTS – Prize Capital, LLC
Matt Peak, Director of Clean Technologies Mobile: +1 (213) 327-8935 Email: matt@prizecapital.net

Prize Capital Report Identifies Emerging “Carbon Capture and Recycling” Industry; Profiles 136 Different Entities

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:33:57 -0700

Prize Capital, LLC today released a comprehensive Carbon Capture and Recycling (CCR) Industry Overview report detailing an emerging industry whose technologies are using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a feedstock in the production of valuable products such as fuel, building materials, animal feed, specialty chemicals, and plastics, among others.

The report takes an initial look at this industry and the innovators within it. It examines the rationale for CCR, current CCR approaches, the forces shaping such approaches, and focuses the majority of its content on providing snapshots of the innovators leading the creation of this new industry, including their respective stages of development as they march towards commercialization.

“While carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is the most frequently discussed approach to carbon mitigation, we’ve discovered another potential option and complement in CCR,” said Matt Peak, Prize Capital’s director of clean technologies and the report’s author. “With the right catalyst, this nascent industry could be spurred to not just reduce carbon emissions, but also to enhance operators’ bottom lines.”

As outlined in the report, the industry’s technologies fall into three categories: Biological, chemical and catalytic, and mineralization. The report identifies, profiles, and provides contact information for 136 different entities working on various CCR approaches: 37 biological, 63 chemical and catalytic, 23 mineralization, 1 blended approach, and 12 uncategorized entities.

In addition to 136 CCR entities, the report recognizes the attention that the biological category has received in recent years by not only profiling the 37 biological entities that are either applying or have applied their technologies to the utilization of power plant flue gas, but also providing names, descriptions, and contact information of an additional 260 biological companies, universities, and laboratories in an appendix that have the potential to utilize flue gas but aren’t known to explicitly do so at this time.

Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a consumer-owned, not-for-profit wholesale power supplier serving 44 electric cooperatives in four western states, provided funding for the report to help identify the range of CCR technology opportunities that could assist the power supplier to cost effectively manage carbon emissions.

“The innovation in the CCR space will be revolutionary for our industry,” said Ken Anderson, Tri-State’s chief executive officer. “Turning carbon liabilities into assets is a significant shift in thinking that could help ensure cost-effective solutions to keep electric power affordable and reliable.”

Altogether, the CCR entities vary in size from unfunded concept to over $50 million in funding received. They’re being developed within private companies as well as at universities and laboratories around the world. They have received government and private funding totaling approximately $1 billion. Some are offering full spectrum solutions from capture to reuse, while others focus only on reuse and need viable capture solutions to realize their potentials.

As the report outlines, the challenges associated with commercializing and deploying CCR technologies include: being able to recycle carbon year round, in various climactic conditions; thermodynamic and thermochemical logistics and efficiencies; scalability; proximity to necessary resources; as well as others.

With the emerging array of technologies and producers, as well as the current slate of technological challenges, the report states that investors and other interested parties, as well as the CCR industry itself, would benefit from models that promote diversity of innovation as well as financial diversity, rather than placing “bets” on single technologies and producers.

The report concludes that in the near-term, this new industry represents a paradigm change that could avert the need to resolve complex issues associated with CCS and prompt renewed action on carbon mitigation. Such action is essential as a carbon-constrained world emerges.

The report is available for $10,000 via the Prize Capital website: http://www.prizecapital.net

About Prize Capital, LLC Prize Capital, LLC was established by entrepreneur and environmentalist Lee Stein to provide capital to environmental start-ups worldwide while reducing risk for investors. Its proprietary methodology diversifies risk and widens market access, enabling Prize Capital to deliver capital to innovators from early-stage companies not served within current financial markets. Prize Capital’s parallel investment funds mitigate risk through a unique option equity strategy and create additional leverage through the prize mechanism. For additional information, visit www.prizecapital.net

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CONTACTS – Prize Capital, LLC
Matt Peak, Director of Clean Technologies Mobile: +1 (213) 327-8935 Email: matt@prizecapital.net

Prize Capital Announces Due Diligence Phase For $10 Million Algae Fuel Prize

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:04:47 -0700

San Diego, April 28, 2009 – Prize Capital, LLC today announced the due diligence phase, covering final planning, rules development and schedule for a proposed $10 million Algae Fuel Prize focused on spurring the development of radically advanced fuels from algae.

Lee Stein, founder and chairman of Prize Capital, made the announcement in advance of a press conference held at the University of California, San Diego, to introduce the new San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB). The press conference included remarks by CleanTECH San Diego and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders.

Immediately following the press conference, Prize Capital hosted a workshop at the SIO for reviewing criteria for the new Algae Fuel Prize. Participants included recognized experts in the algae and biotechnology communities from the University of Texas, Sandia National Laboratory, Flagship Ventures, British Petroleum, Synthetic Genomics, University of California at San Diego, the California Energy Commission, The Scripps Research Institute, Colorado State University, The Freshwater Institute, The Natural Resources Defense Council, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Cleantech Group, the Harris Group, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Scientific Hatcheries, the X PRIZE Foundation, the Global Footprint Network, and SD-CAB, among others.

“From Charles Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic to help launch the multibillion dollar aviation industry, to the Ansari X PRIZE’s launch of the space tourism industry, prize competitions have sparked creativity from around the world to accomplish what many believed impossible,” said Stein. “Significant research is already underway on creating commercial fuels from algae. Prize Capital believes the power of a prize can stimulate additional research and focus world attention on the creation of truly sustainable and scalable renewable fuels to wean our world off its addiction to petroleum.”

While inducement prizes have been around for over two hundred years, the Algae Fuel Prize will be the first application of the Prize Capital model. Under this model, Prize Capital selects teams from among those entering each competition and provides each with working capital to create prototypes, secure protection for their intellectual property, and potentially other essential needs. The concept is to provide financial leverage so teams of all sizes can accelerate their discovery processes, enhance the level of competition and speed a result, Stein said.

“We see the Algae Fuel Prize as complementary to existing R&D efforts, including ours,” said Dr. Stephen Mayfield, a leading researcher at The Scripps Research Institute and founder of Sapphire Energy, a startup company in San Diego focused on creating oil from algae. “The current research initiatives and venture capital dollars that are focused on developing algae and other significantly advanced renewable fuel technologies will benefit from the new minds, creativity and media attention being added to the mix from this prominent competition.”

Algae and other similarly advanced renewable fuels have tremendous potential to displace and one day even replace petroleum, Stein said.

“Imagine, producing from what people call ‘pond scum’ 10 to 150 times as much oil as traditional energy feedstocks, such as corn and soybeans,” said Stein. “For added benefit, it can be grown on non-arable land using non-potable water.”

The April 28 announcement was the culmination of more than a year of research and planning since Prize Capital announced the initial prize planning and discovery phase last March at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC).

“We started with a broader concept for a renewable fuel prize and narrowed the focus to algae after extensive research and discussions with some of the leading scientists in the field,” Stein said. “Today’s workshop marks a major milestone in creating the final criteria and launching the Algae Fuel Prize, which could come as early as this fall. “

Stein said Prize Capital believes the Algae Fuel Prize competition will provide incentives to determine which of the thousands of algae strains are best suited for absorbing energy and producing renewable fuels, where these strains work best, how to most effectively harvest algae, and how to most efficiently extract the plentiful oil from within algae’s cellular walls at sufficient scale, among other challenges.

“As experienced with previous competitions, the Algae Fuel Prize will focus minds from around the world to sort through these questions, generate breakthroughs in algae biotechnology, expand an emerging industry, create jobs, and improve the world in ways we may not have imagined,” Stein said. “This prize sets a major goal for the teams to pursue in the form of a $10 million check to the winner while providing the financial fuel to get them there faster.”

About Prize Capital, LLC Prize Capital, LLC was established by entrepreneur and environmentalist Lee Stein to provide capital to environmental start-ups worldwide while reducing risk for investors. Its proprietary methodology diversifies risk and widens market access, enabling Prize Capital to deliver capital to innovators from early-stage companies not served within current financial markets. Prize Capital’s parallel investment funds mitigate risk through a unique option equity strategy and create additional leverage through the prize mechanism. For additional information, visit www.prizecapital.net

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CONTACTS – Prize Capital
Matt Peak, Director of Technology Ventures Mobile: +1 (213) 327-8935 Email: matt@prizecapital.net
Gable PR – 619-284-1714

Tom Gable
Cell: 619-251-3881
Email: tom@gablepr.com

Erin Koch
Cell: 619-246-9249
Email: erin.koch@gablepr.com

X PRIZE Foundation and Prize Capital Announce Winner of $25,000 YouTube Contest

Thu, 5 Feb 2009 20:12:35 -0800

UC Irvine students Kyle Good and Bryan Le were crowned the winners of the X PRIZE Foundation’s “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea?” competition, receiving a $25,000 prize check from competition prize sponsor Prize Capital, during a ceremony held in El Segundo, CA at the corporate headquarters offices of BT Americas (BT, a foundation-wide partner of X PRIZE).

The students’ idea “The Capacitor Challenge” – a concept to develop a new storage medium, the “ultra capacitor” – generated the highest amount of public votes in the YouTube video contest, after being selected one of the final three entries by the X PRIZE Foundation.

The other two finalists were Jonathan Dreher from Cambridge, MA whose “Energy X PRIZE: Reduce Home Energy Usage” focused on reducing home energy consumption of American communities and Alan Silva from Roy, Utah whose “Energy Independence X PRIZE” looked at developing energy efficient homes that exist completely off the grid.

The competition invited the public to develop and post a two-minute video describing a concept for a potential X PRIZE in Energy and Environment. More than 130 videos were received and more than 4,200 people voted for the winner.

In keeping with the YouTube video theme, a special media package, with photos, press materials and video, has been created that captures inside moments from the day’s events – including the moment the “Capacitor Challenge” team learned they had won. Other elements of the video include a one-on-one interview with the winning team, a roundtable discussion with energy leaders and a chronicle of their journey to BT headquarters for the announcement.

Please visit http://www.xprize.org/crazy-green-idea to view and download the media package!

"We’re so excited to be the winners of the 'Crazy Green Idea' contest. It's an honor that seems too good to be true," said Kyle Good. "We’ll never forget this experience."

"I’ve always admired the X PRIZE Foundation and the way they’ve tackled some of humanity’s biggest challenges,” said Bryan Le. "I’m looking forward to seeing how our idea develops into an Energy and Environment X PRIZE."

Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, presented the check to the winning team along with Lee Stein, Founder of Prize Capital. After the award ceremony, all three finalist teams, with the out-of-state teams present via teleconference, participated in a roundtable “think tank” discussion about their contest ideas as well as potential solutions on the current energy crisis. Energy experts Saul Griffith, CEO of Makani Power; Mark Bernstein, Managing Director of USC’s Energy Institute; Dr. Shahed, Corporate Fellow of Honeywell Turbo Technologies; and Neil Blakesley, Vice President Strategy & Marketing, BT Americas, were also present to lead the discussion.

“We were all impressed by the sheer number of ideas submitted and their level of sophistication. It truly demonstrates how important this issue is to the public at large,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. “Energy and the environment are areas of critical importance to us. I would like to thank Prize Capital for their sponsorship of this YouTube competition, and also thank both Vulcan Ventures Inc. and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for their generosity in underwriting our general research into Energy & Environment X PRIZEs.”

“Prize Capital congratulates the winners of this event,” said Lee Stein, Founder of Prize Capital. “They tackled an issue in need of a significant breakthrough, presented it effectively using modern media, and demonstrated true entrepreneurial spirit. Offering prizes and capital gives ideas and entrepreneurs like these a chance, and we’re committed to applying both through our Prize Fund to solve the most pressing energy and environmental challenges of our time.”

About “The Capacitor Challenge” Team:
Second-year students at UC Irvine majoring in film/media studies and chemistry, the winning team learned about the “Crazy Green Idea” contest from Bryan Le, who was searching the Internet for online contests. Drawing inspiration from each other and UC Irvine Professor Diego Rosso, the “Ultimate Capacitor” was an obvious idea for the team who believed that their constant frustration with charging and throwing away batteries was something also commonly experienced by others. The team reflected on the rise of electric vehicles and considered the future role of batteries, beyond iPods and cell phones.

The team plans to spend the prize money on European study abroad programs, a personal spiritual trip to India, college tuition and other-related expenses.

ABOUT THE $25,000 “WHAT’S YOUR CRAZY GREEN IDEA?” VIDEO CONTEST
A competition created by the X PRIZE Foundation and sponsored by Prize Capital, LLC, “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea?” asked the public audience to submit their best ideas for a potential Energy and Environment X PRIZE. To be considered, contestants needed to submit a two-minute video via YouTube.com that identified the specific prize idea, the Grand Challenge or world-wide problem that needs to be solved and how the prize idea could benefit humanity. Videos were judged on creativity, viability of concept, degree of the concept’s revolutionary impact and concept innovation and inventiveness. The X PRIZE Foundation selected three finalists of the 133 video submissions that were received. The final phase of the competition asked the public audience to vote on the top three videos to determine the winner. More than 4,200 votes were received.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world’s attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation and its partner BT Global Services are creating prizes in Space and Ocean Exploration, Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org.

ABOUT PRIZE CAPITAL, LLC Prize Capital’s mission is to promote the preservation of rich ecological habitat areas around the world, by investing in environmentally sustainable economic development, new technologies and biodiversity preservation. Through its Earth 2.0 programs, Prize Capital combines prizes and capital to solve global energy and environmental challenges, for example, renewable energy, water or deforestation. The company’s new financing mechanism combines inducement prize competitions with parallel equity option investment funds to provide capital for innovators to achieve technological breakthroughs and opens market access to early stage environmental opportunities for investors. Prize Capital’s first Earth 2.0 program is a prize and fund for sustainable decentralized renewable energy. For further information, visit www.prizecapital.net.

Finalists Focus on Reducing Energy Consumption & Increasing Energy Storage in Prize Capital sponsored XPRIZE "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?" contest on YouTube: Public Voting Begins to Select Winner

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:19:46 -0800

The public voting phase of the “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea?” Video Contest on YouTube, sponsored by Prize Capital, has begun! Out of 133 video submissions, the X PRIZE Foundation has selected three finalists and is asking the world to choose the idea that should be explored as the next X PRIZE in Energy and the Environment. The contestant whose video receives the most votes before November 30 will win the $25,000 award from Prize Capital and have their Crazy Green Idea explored as the next X PRIZE in Energy and the Environment. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite entry at: www.xprize.org/crazy-green-idea.

The competition, announced on September 10 at MIT, was to develop a two-minute video describing a concept for the next X PRIZE in Energy and Environment. Submitted ideas ranged from creating microalgae farms to harvesting energy from roads to harnessing the power of time travel. The competition closed on October 31, 2008. A panel of judges from the X PRIZE Foundation scored each of the eligible entries and selected the three top videos.

The three finalists are:

Jonathan Dreher, from Cambridge, MA: “Energy X PRIZE: Reduce Home Energy Usage”
A prize to reduce the home energy consumption of American communities.

Alan Silva, from Roy, UT: “The Energy Independence X PRIZE”
A prize to develop energy-independent homes that exist completely off the grid.

Kyle Good, from Irvine, CA: “The Capacitor Challenge”
A prize to develop a new storage medium, an “ultra-capacitor.”

“We were inspired by the sheer number of ideas and inquiries from the YouTube community,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. “Narrowing the list to three finalists was difficult, and now it’s up to the public to decide which one is truly worthy of being explored as an X PRIZE in the area of Energy and the Environment.”

“We sponsored this contest because we think the world is full of great ideas from people who don’t have a way to share them,” said Lee Stein, Chairman and Founder of Prize Capital, LLC. “By offering a prize, we provided a platform to share and surface innovative ideas. We hope this is the first of many prize winning checks Prize Capital will be awarding for smart energy ideas. After seeing the finalist
videos, I’ll be happy to hand any of them a check for $25,000.”

Public voting for the top video ends on November 30, 2008. The winner will be congratulated in person by Dr. Peter H. Diamandis and Lee Stein, and a media announcement will be made.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world’s attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world’s first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation and its partner BT Global Services are creating prizes in Space and Ocean Exploration, Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org.

ABOUT PRIZE CAPITAL, LLC Prize Capital’s mission is to promote the preservation of rich ecological habitat areas around the world, by investing in environmentally sustainable economic development, new technologies and biodiversity preservation. Through its Earth 2.0 programs, Prize Capital combines prizes and capital to solve global energy and environmental challenges, for example, renewable energy, water or deforestation. The company’s new financing mechanism combines inducement prize competitions with parallel equity option investment funds to provide capital for innovators to achieve technological breakthroughs and opens market access to early stage environmental opportunities for investors. Prize Capital’s first Earth 2.0 program is a prize and fund for sustainable decentralized renewable energy. For further information, visit www.prizecapital.net.

Prize Capital Presents $25,000 X PRIZE Foundation Contest on YouTube: “What’s Your Crazy Green Idea?”

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:22:55 -0700

Prize Capital, LLC is sponsoring a $25,000 video contest, launched by the X PRIZE Foundation, on YouTube. The $25,000 will be awarded for the best video proposing a new, world-changing X PRIZE in the field of Energy and the Environment.

View the official contest video and rules at www.youtube.com/xprize.

Prize Capital has been working with the X PRIZE Foundation to develop prizes in the area of energy and the environment, most recently announcing the planning phase of a renewable energy prize. The X PRIZE Foundation is focused on educating the public about major challenges and solutions in several areas including the energy and environment sector.

The video contest was announced September 10, 2008 in Cambridge, MA during a forum at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) featuring thought leaders in the energy and environment sector, including futurist Ray Kurzweil, geneticist George Church, inventor Saul Griffith and physicist Ernest Moniz. Prize Capital Chairman & Founder Lee Stein joined X PRIZE Foundation Chairman & CEO Peter Diamondis on stage to announce the contest.

“Prize Capital is proud to sponsor this contest to encourage creative thinking and provide open access to anyone around the globe to propose a prize challenge. Our Earth 2.0 Fund will provide capital for prizes to solve the most pressing energy and environmental challenges. We hope it may include one of the ideas proposed through this ground-breaking contest and the X PRIZE Lab @ MIT,” said Lee Stein, Chairman and Founder of Prize Capital, LLC.

Watch video highlights
See photos and speeches

Prize Capital, LLC Announces a Framework to Enable a Multi-Million Dollar Biofuels Prize

Tue, 4 Mar 2008 09:26:13 -0800

Prize Capital, LLC today announced the planning phase for a $10 million “Biofuels Prize” in coordination with the X PRIZE Foundation to spur the creation of a new technology that is energy and cost-efficient, sustainable, versatile, easy to scale and decentralized.

Lee Stein, founder and chairman of Prize Capital, introduced the prize planning phase here at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) during the opening plenary session and also at an official side event. The new mechanism for generating innovation and financing for energy and the environment is the first of several Earth 2.0SM programs planned by Prize Capital. 
“Current biofuels technology is not fully sustainable, competes with food crops and doesn’t work on a decentralized small scale for local communities,” said Stein. “Instead, the Biofuels Prize will spur the creation of new small-scale production systems that can be placed in villages and towns anywhere in the world where non-food crops can be grown and converted to biofuels.”

“Innovation can come from all corners of the world but people need capital and motivation, which is at the heart of the Prize Capital model and the Biofuels Prize.”

Stein said traditional funding mechanisms are not designed to empower the vast numbers of people in developing countries who just might have global solutions nor are they designed to fund non-traditional early stage companies.

“Our prize, capital and partnerships approach aims to catalyze innovation and provide the capital to bring it to the world,” Stein said. “We believe the Biofuels Prize will benefit the environment, the economy, investors, entrepreneurs and innovators everywhere.”

The planning phase will begin for a $10 million prize purse will be awarded to the team that wins a series of challenges designed to test efficiency, scalability and sustainability of new biofuels liquid transport technology. To finance the Biofuels Prize and other prizes, Prize Capital will be creating a series of investment funds to provide capital for select contestants. For investors, this reduces the risk of having to seek out suitable investment candidates.

The power of prizes to induce new development is well proven. History is replete with examples. Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic to win a prize offered and his success launched the multibillion dollar aviation industry. More recently, the Ansari X PRIZE, a competition created by the X PRIZE Foundation, resulted in the first private manned rocket ship to reach outer space, a feat considered impossible. The achievement is launching space tourism and advancing the use of small space craft for other military and civilian uses.

Jesse Berst, Executive Director of Energy and Environment at the X PRIZE Foundation, states, “We are very pleased to be the planning partner with Prize Capital. Prizes are inducements to drive innovators toward specific results. The Biofuels Prize will have clearly defined outcomes determined by Prize Capital and the X PRIZE Foundation, with further input from outside experts and advisors. We look forward to leveraging prizes, capital and innovation to help solve environmental challenges worldwide and help reverse global environmental decline.”

Over 150 countries and 80 ministers are expected to attend WIREC, in addition to thousands of businesses, public and non-governmental organizations.

Michael Eckhart, President of the American Council on Renewable Energy, said he was pleased that Prize Capital had chosen to announce the planning phase of their prize at WIREC.

“The renewable energy industry is poised to generate remarkable breakthroughs in how we deliver and use energy. New technology development needs investment to create successful products that can be used anywhere in the world,” said Eckert. “The Biofuels Prize is a wonderful vision to inspire entrepreneurial spirit and innovation around the world.”

The Prize Capital mechanism is also a key part of the Earth Fund, a newly created partnership of the Global Environment Facility and IFC to support market-based solutions for environmental problems in the developing world.

The Biofuels Prize will spur the creation of a winning technology that is energy and cost-efficient, sustainable, versatile, easy to scale and decentralized. The potential impact on fuel prices could be significant. Capacity can be added rapidly with the decentralized and small scale approach. This is the ultimate grass roots approach to reversing global environmental decline while creating economic benefits down to the village level.

Stein concluded, “There are no boundaries or borders on innovation. We want the world involved in the search for breakthroughs in the biofuels industry.”
About Prize Capital, LLC  Prize Capital, LLC was established by entrepreneur and environmentalist Lee Stein to provide capital to environmental start-ups worldwide while reducing risk for investors. Its proprietary methodology diversifies risk and widens market access, enabling Prize Capital to deliver capital to innovators from developing countries and to early-stage companies not served within current financial markets. Prize Capital’s parallel investment funds mitigate financial risk through a unique option equity strategy and create additional leverage through the prize mechanism. The public sector partnerships create markets by providing loan guarantees and advance purchase. For further information, visit www.prizecapital.net.

GEF and IFC Launch the Earth Fund: New Partnership to Support Market-Based Environmental Innovation in Developing Countries

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:28:18 -0800

The Global Environmental Facility and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, are launching today the Earth Fund, a new partnership open to the private sector, foundations, and other partners that will support innovative and market-based solutions for the most pressing environmental challenges in developing countries.

The GEF and IFC will designate $50 million and $10 million to the fund, respectively. The fund has already attracted several partners and is expected to grow to $200 million through additional contributions from private sector companies, foundations, NGOs, and other development agencies.

“A key goal for us at the GEF is to support innovative solutions to environmental challenges in developing countries. We have set aside $50 million for the Earth Fund because I am committed to the proposition that the private and the public sectors together can play an irreplaceable role in addressing the underlying causes of environmental degradation,” said Monique Barbut, GEF CEO and Chairperson.

To maximize its impact, the fund will use a wide array of financial instruments, including grants, soft loans, and equity participation, as well as inducement prizes that reward environmental innovation in such areas as second generation biofuels, water treatment, or clean energies.

“We hope the Earth Fund, in particular through its use of prizes, will encourage innovation, venture capital, and early-stage investment in new products that are yet to be commercially developed,” Rachel Kyte, IFC Director for Environment and Social Development. “The global environmental challenges of our time require rapid intensification of our efforts, both to mobilize private investment in the search for solutions and to secure new partnerships that bring this investment into developing countries.”

The inducement prizes will be set up in coordination with Prize Capital LLC, a private company that combines prizes and capital to achieve environmental solutions.

Prize Capital LLC Founder and Chairman Lee Stein said, “Inducement prizes have been used for centuries to achieve what had previously been considered impossible. Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic to win a prize, and today we are seeing a renaissance of global prizes sponsored by such companies as Google and Archon Mining. Our collaboration with the GEF and IFC will allow investors, innovators, and entrepreneurs to apply their creativity to global environmental challenges.”

The announcement takes place during the COP-13 climate change negotiations, which have highlighted the crucial need to address climate change risks in developing countries.

About the GEF
The Global Environment Facility is a 178-member international financing body devoted to protection of the global environment in developing countries. As the financial mechanism for several international environmental conventions, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants that are implemented by UN agencies and multilateral banks. Since 1991, the GEF has provided to developing countries and economies in transition $7.4 billion that leveraged $28 billion in cofinancing for almost 2,000 projects in over 165 countries. Through its Small Grants Programme (SGP) implemented by UNDP, GEF has also made more than 7,000 small grants, up to $50,000 each, directly to nongovernmental organizations and community-based organizations.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through loan participations and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

About Prize Capital, LLC
Prize Capital, LLC was established by entrepreneur and environmentalist Lee Stein to provide capital to environmental start-ups worldwide while reducing risk for investors. Its proprietary methodology diversifies risk and widens market access, enabling Prize Capital to deliver capital to innovators from developing countries and to early-stage companies not served within current financial markets. Prize Capital’s parallel investment funds mitigate financial risk through a unique option equity strategy and create additional leverage through the prize mechanism. The public sector partnerships create markets by providing loan guarantees and advance purchase. For further information, visit www.prizecapital.net.

http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/media.nsf/content/SelectedPressRelease?OpenDocument&UNID=E69192DE07290757852573AD005FCB5D

Developing Countries Win Environmental Ally: GEF Launches Public Private Partnership for the Global Environment

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 09:30:46 -0700

Washington, DC, 15, June 2007 –Developing countries won a new partner in their fight to stem environmental degradation today as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) governing Council gave a $50 million green light to a new pilot Public Private Partnership (PPP). The PPP is a strategic investment program to foster innovative technological and financial solutions to intractable environmental problems in developing countries.

The PPP has already attracted partners and initial co-financing of $53 million from the private sector, agencies and foundations, and is expected to grow to $200 million. The partnership launches with an innovative approach developed by Prize Capital, LLC that generates capital for global competitions resulting in technological breakthroughs to solve complex environmental challenges.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to be one of the first to join forces in this partnership,” said Lee Stein, Founder, Prize Capital, LLC. “Through this partnership, and the proposed Prize Capital global prize competitions, millions of dollars will be applied to developing technology for developing countries, protecting the world’s most valuable and endangered environmental resources.”

The PPP’s first project will drive innovation through a global prize competition to bring second generation liquid biofuels for transport production technology to developing countries. Additional programs are being developed to address wastewater treatment in fragile coastal areas and provide alternatives to DDT for malaria. Future projects will be developed in partnership with the private sector.

“Investment in solutions to environmental challenges in developing countries should be our highest priority right now. It is crucial that all actors join together to direct resources toward the greatest impact. I am committed to the proposition that the private and public sectors together can play an irreplaceable role in addressing the underlying causes of environmental degradation,” said Monique Barbut, GEF CEO & Chairperson.

While the private sector may be interested in funding environmental solutions in developing countries, unknown and uncertain market conditions in these countries present significant risks and barriers. Through the PPP the private sector can gain support to overcome development risk and ensure technology and resources are directed where they are needed most.

China’s Alternate Council member Mr. Jinlin Yang, expressing support for the PPP, asserted, “This is the future. It’s a win-win situation to achieve results for generations. We have to engage the resources of the private sector to resolve development goals and the global environment. There are many opportunities in climate change, biodiversity, even in waste management, for the private sector to intervene to achieve financial and environmental benefits.”

About the GEF

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the largest financier of environmental initiatives worldwide with nearly $7 billion disbursed and over $24 billion leveraged since its inception in 1991. As the financial mechanism for several international environmental conventions, the GEF provides grants for projects in developing countries and economies in transition on biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer and persistent organic pollutants that are implemented by UN Agencies and multilateral development banks. The GEF was last replenished in August 2006 by its 178 member countries and will commit more than $1 billion of grants each year over the period from 2007-2010.