Prize CapitalSM Biofuels Prize
The first Prize CapitalSM Earth 2.0SM program is the Biofuels Prize for small scale decentralized renewable energy.
Throughout history, prizes have been used to bring forth breakthroughs. The ideal competition includes a compelling target; a large prize; simple, stringent rules; and competitions to capture public imagination. The Biofuels Prize will include all these elements. In addition, it will introduce innovations to increase funding and spur adoption.
Current biofuels technologies are criticized for being inefficient, costly, unsustainable and incompatible with existing vehicles and infrastructure. The Biofuels Prize will encourage innovators to develop the new technologies necessary to produce biofuels in methods that do not compete with food crops for land and water, do not encourage deforestation and do not exclude small holders, developing and rural economies.
The Prize CapitalSM Biofuels Prize will accelerate development of breakthrough technologies for sustainable, small-scale decentralized biofuel production systems for liquid transport fuel. Prize rules will produce a winning technology that is energy- and cost-efficient, sustainable and compatible with today’s infrastructure. Importantly, the result will be decentralized and scalable, supporting distributed production that is close to farms and suitable for villages, coops, and neighborhoods including rural and developing regions.
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Current biofuels technology is:
- Inefficient
- Use far too much land, water, fertilizer - Not fully compatible
- With existing vehicles and infrastructure - Not fully sustainable
- Compete for food, water, arable land
- Can encourage deforestation - Not suitable for small-scale
- Not supportive of local economic development
Prize rules will produce a winning technology that is:
- Energy- and cost-efficient
- Sustainable
- Compatible with today’s infrastructure
- Versatile
- Accepts different feedstocks - Decentralized and scalable
- Distributed production, close to the farms - Suitable for villages, coops, neighborhoods including rural and developing regions
Planning Phase
The Prize CapitalSM Biofuels Prize is designed to create breakthroughs in the biofuels industry. Prize rules are in development to produce a solution for small-scale, decentralized, distributed, feedstock-agnostic liquid transport fuels.
We are currently in the planning stages for the Biofuels Prize and will be inviting outside experts, ministers and others from both the public and private sectors to join our advisory panel as we work toward developing rules and regulations for the prize. We seek to represent the broad base of stakeholders influencing and impacting energy use and delivery to guide the development of the prize rules.
A panel of experts will approve the prize target and define the rules. The panel will combine thought leaders from different disciplines and geographies, including national laboratories, large industrial firms, universities, high-tech startups, environmental groups, government agencies, trade associations and more.
Expert Advisors
A partial list of expert advisors to the development of the Biofuels Prize to date includes:
- Jesse Berst, X PRIZE Foundation
- Jim Boyd, Vice Chairman, California Energy Commission
- Mike Davis, Associate Laboratory Director, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- Bob Epstein, Co-Founder, Environmental Entrepreneurs and Trustee, Natural Resource Defense Council
- Jack Jacometti, Vice President, Global GTL Development, Shell International Gas Limited
- Dr. Henry Kelly, President, Federation of American Scientists