An international competition underway in Wyoming has pushed back its deadline by several months. The $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition has five competitors located around the world; each tasked with developing a technology that can turn carbon dioxide into a valuable product. Soon, all groups will be set up and demonstrate their technologies at the Integrated Test Center (ITC) near the Dry Fork Station in Gillette.
The final data submission for the five competitors will take place four months later than expected on June 30, 2020.
Marcius Extavour, executive director of Carbon XPRIZE, wrote the extensions will give finalists more flexibility in preparing successful demonstration at the test center.
"It would be a shame to have a team with a promising technology not be able to fully demonstrate at the ITC after they have come this far only because of a schedule delay." Extavour said, "XPRIZE feels that an extension of a few months gives teams a little more room for error as they attempt to execute these ambitious technology demonstrations for the first time."
He added the extra sunlight will be helpful for some teams. Dimensional Energy in particular relies on solar energy for its project.
Several finalists voiced their concern with the tight deadline at a meeting this past February. Dr. Mohammed Imbabi leads the Carbon Capture Machine out of Scotland. He said the extra time will be helpful for new investment to come in.
"We're on track and it's good news that the timeline for XPRIZE has changed, which means that by early 2020 we will have our build on site and we'll have our initial tests running and we'll be able to do this," he said.
A winner will now be revealed in September of next year, instead of the spring time.