Xprize Carbon awarded to a dirt simple carbon removal technology

Sometimes the simpler idea is the winner. That’s certainly the case with the winner of the Xprize Carbon Removal competition, which was announced on Wednesday. Mati Carbon walked away with the $50 million grand prize for its enhanced rock weathering program that locks carbon in soils for thousands of years. The Musk Foundation underwrote the prize. The runners up were NetZero, which produces biochar; Vaulted Deep, which processes and buries waste biomass; and Undo Carbon, another enhanced rock weathering startup. Mati also beat finalists that spanned a range of technologies, from direct air capture to ocean alkalinity enhancement. “It’s really been a honor to be selected amongst the luminaries of carbon removal who have been competing for this prize,” Shantanu Agarwal, founder and CEO of Mati Carbon, told TechCrunch. Mati’s carbon removal technology, enhanced rock weathering, is simple. The company grinds up rocks that naturally convert carbon dioxide into stable minerals, increasi ... Read full article.