X-Prize expanding

We love the X-Prize, right? It helped the private sector get into space and is now sponsoring a competition to create a commercially viable 100-mpg car.

But the competition isn't stopping there. The X-Prize Foundation has announced that it will be creating several new prizes for a variety of environmental categories with a total worth of $100 million.

Apparently, this new suite of X-Prizes includes the Automotive X-Prize and may also include (but isn't limited to):

1. Biofuels
2. Energy storage
3. Carbon capture
4. Solar
5. Water
6. Energy efficiency
7. Clean aviation fuel
8. The provision of basic utilities for developing nations

The basis for the need, says the CEO of the foundation, Peter Diamandis, is that progress is happening too slow.

Indeed, I tend to agree with him. Though the vast amount of news that we have to cover every day at EcoGeek is a testament to the fact that clean technology is developing quickly, solutions are not coming in fast enough.

The first new prize, for biofuels, will be launched later this year with others being rolled out over a two-year period.

The foundation hopes that each of the sectors in which it provides a prize has the potential to truly revolutionize the economy. And with 8% of venture capital funding in America already flowing into clean technology, it's likely that the foundation is right.

Details on the "Energy and Environment X-Prize Suite" (PDF) will continue to emerge throughout the next year. And while $10 million is a bit trivial in what could end up being a trillion dollar industry, it may be that the first $10 million is more important than the last $100 billion.

Via BusinessWeek