XPRIZE FOR CARBON CAPTURE COULD GO TO KENYAN COMPANY

By Thuku Kariuki and Daniel Furnad

Elon Musk has pledged $100 million in prize money to help develop Carbon capture technology to mitigate global warming.  Octavia Carbon, based in Kenya, has now become one of the ten finalists to receive the $50 million grand prize.

The XPRIZE has captured the attention of young innovators across the globe.  But creating carbon capture devices that can meet the competition's parameters is a tall order. The machines must be able to pick up 1000 tonnes of CO2 per year; model their costs at a scale of 1 million tonnes per year; and show a pathway to achieving a scale of gigatonnes per year in future.

Three years into the competition, with one year to go, the field has narrowed considerably.  Another Kenyan innovation company made the last 20.  Takachar, from Mwea, Kenya specializes in turning crop and forest residues in rural communities into carbon-negative bioproducts.  The inclusion of two Kenyan enterprises in the top 20, the only African entries to make it that far, shows that innovation to fight climate change has made its home here.

Kenya has an ideal environment for Direct Air Capture, or DAC, where CO2 is snatched from the air and either stored or turned into other useful products, like aviation fuel.   An abundance of renewable energy is needed.  Kenya boasts one of the 

largest caches of geothermal energy in the world.  It also needs the right environment and capacity of storing the captured carbon.  The Rift Valley provides an abundance of basaltic rock to hold the CO2.

Enter Octavia Carbon, boasting a young staff of 60 innovators, from scientists to engineers, policy wonks to technocrats.  Putting their heads together, they have designed world class vehicles to enter the carbon capture race.  And its not just for the prize money.  Octavia is partnering with local universities to develop further technology meant to tame climate change.  It is also proactively engaging the government to update policies that will make their products more cost effective and encourage other environmentally minded companies to join them here in Kenya.

$50 million certainly wouldn't hurt their cause.  But the attention they are receiving might be just as important.  Duncan Kariuki, Octavia's Product Lead explains, "Being an XPRIZE Carbon Removal finalist means a strong validation for the great potential that 

Direct Air Capture in Kenya holds...We are particularly excited for all the socio-economic impact that DAC will have in Kenya, especially in creating prosperity through meaningful jobs and increasing energy-access."  This collection of young innovators has a 

broad view of how their technology can benefit their countrymen and the entire world.

Young or old, if you have ideas of how to fight climate change or employ Octavia Carbon's technology, visit their website: https://www.octaviacarbon.com/.

And if you want more information on the XPRIZE or the other great entities that have participated

in the challenge, visit:

https://www.xprize.org/prizes/carbonremoval.