$25,000 goes to each of 10 winning projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or promote carbon uptake
ASPEN, Colo., Jan. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The deadline is fast approaching to apply for the 2021 Keeling Curve Prize, which will award $25,000 to each of 10 projects designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon uptake. The prestigious competition is open until Feb. 10 to applicants from around the world.
Previous winners have fixed carbon into stone in Iceland, produced biofuels in Kenya, and helped corporations around the world set and achieve emissions goals.
“Each year, the Keeling Curve Prize laureates inspire us with creative, practical approaches to reducing Earth’s greenhouse gas burden and staving off the worst effects of global warming,” said Jacquelyn Francis, executive director of the Keeling Curve Prize and the organization that administers it, the Global Warming Mitigation Project. “Our goal is to shine a spotlight on these solutions and accelerate their development.”
The 2021 Keeling Curve Prize application period closes at midnight GMT on Feb. 10. Francis says the application, which can be found at https://www.globalwarmingmitigationproject.org/apply, is intentionally straightforward and can be completed in a matter of a few hours.
Prizes will be awarded to two projects in each of the following five categories:
- Capture & Utilization – Activating and accelerating natural or human-made systems for carbon capture, utilization and sequestration;
- Energy – Decarbonizing energy, supporting zero-carbon energy, or leading the way in the supply, distribution, access, infrastructure, or improvements of low- or zero-emissions energy systems;
- Finance – Making the economics or financial mechanisms work for heat-trapping gas reduction or reversal ventures;
- Social & Cultural Pathways – Changing the way people consider, understand, and act on humanity’s impacts affecting the livability of planet Earth; and
- Transport & Mobility – Reimagining and reinventing all types of vehicles, fuels, and mobility options for both people and products.
The growing Global Warming Mitigation Project recently expanded its leadership. Andrei Ruckenstein, Ph.D. — physics professor, vice president and associate provost for research at Boston University — has been named to the organization’s board of directors. Marilyn Waite of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has been named to the Keeling Curve Prize’s advisory council. And Valorie Aquino, former national co-chair and organizer of the world’s first March for Science, has joined the staff as program and development director.
The Keeling Curve Prize is named after scientist Charles David Keeling’s iconic graph showing a sharp increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere since the 1950s.
Keeling Curve Prize finalists and winners are chosen by a panel of esteemed judges including Achala Abeysinghe, Ph.D., of the International Institute for Environment and Development; Dr. Brenda Ekwurzel, Ph.D., of the Union of Concerned Scientists; Paul Holthus, World Ocean Council; Kara Hurst, Amazon; Edward Mungai, Kenya Climate Innovation Center; and Robin Newmark, National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
