Appendix D. The Musk X-prize
 Like us, Elon Musk has an interest in NET technologies. He is offering $100 million in prizes to determine the best technology to do this. Exploring his offer, the highest prize is $50 million. Whether we apply for this or not, the conditions that must be met to win the prize are very stringent and highly relevant to our own goals as well. Answering them would be a very beneficial exercise for us independent of winning the prizes.
 The Comings Foundation is willing to supply, up to its ability, the funds needed to provide the research necessary to the answer any of the above questions that cannot be answered by our experts, and to answer the questions posed at the end of this section by the X-Prize.
The following is a review of the statements and competition guidelines submitted by the Musk X-prize for Carbon Removal.

OVERVIEW
 Climate science is clear that in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change we need to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as aggressively as possible, now. It has also become clear that net zero is not enough. We also need negative emissions: innovation that goes beyond limiting CO2 emissions, but actually removes and sequesters CO2 that is already in the air and oceans. In particular, the world's leading climate scientists estimate that humanity must remove 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year by 2050 in order to reach the Paris Agreement goal of limiting the Earth’s temperature rise to no more than 1.5˚(C) of preindustrial levels, or even 2˚(C). If humanity continues on a business-as-usual path, the global average temperature could increase 6˚(C) by the year 2100. One prize will not “solve” climate change. But it can radically increase the level of innovation, demonstration, investment, and rigor of a variety of carbon removal solutions in a way that accelerates the rate of scale-up and deployment of the best solutions.
XPRIZE Carbon Removal is a four-year global competition that challenges innovators from anywhere to create and demonstrate solutions that accomplish CO2 removal (”carbon removal”) -- pulling CO2 directly from the atmosphere or the oceans and locking it away in a durable and sustainable way that can scale massively to gigaton levels. We have entered a key decade of climate action. In order to reach the long-term goal of 10 Gt/y by 2050, XPRIZE Carbon Removal aims to incentivize solutions whose combined capacity at scale can reach 2.5 Gt/y by 2030. There are a range of scientific estimates for carbon removal targets, each of which depend on a different set of assumptions about how quickly we can reduce our current CO2 emissions. Scientific debate about the right target will likely continue and evolve in time, but one thing is clear: humanity will need gigaton scale carbon removal, and we are nowhere near there today. The field needs a nonlinear intervention to get there.

HOW TO WIN
 To win the prize teams must demonstrate CO2 removal at the 1000 ton per year scale, model costs at the million on per year (megaton) scale and present a plan to sustainably reach gigaton per year scale in the future. In the first phase of the competition, teams must demonstrate the key component of their carbon removal solution, at a minimum. Teams can submit entries across natural, engineered and hybrid solutions.

To win the prize teams must demonstrate carbon removal at the kt/y scale, model costs at the Mt/y scale, and make a case for a sustainable path to Gt/y scale. The team with the most scalable and lowest-cost carbon removal technology will win.

Any carbon negative solution is eligible, whether related to air, oceans, land, or rocks, or any other method that can durably and reliably remove and sequester CO2.

XPRIZE Carbon Removal will challenge innovators to demonstrate the viability of durable, low-cost, scalable, and sustainable carbon removal solutions. Humanity needs a portfolio of solutions that can reach a combined installed capacity of 2.5 billion tons (gigatons) of CO2 removal per year by 2030 in order to be on track to meet the IPCC goal of at least 10 gigatons per year by 2050 . The competition is designed to help put humanity on track to meet this goal.

PURSE PRIZE
The $100M prize purse will be distributed as follows: After 1 year of competition the judges will review all submissions received by that time and award up to 15 Milestone Prizes of $1 million each. At the discretion of the judges, these awards may be granted on a conditional basis, subject to the team’s demonstrated commitment to continuing to develop and advance their solutions and to compete for the Grand Prize.
 The Comings Foundation will not compete for the Milestone Prizes since they only offer $1 million each. We can easily cover that. Teams that do not receive or do not compete for US$ 1 million Milestone Prizes are still eligible to compete for the Grand Prizes.

After 4 years, judges will select the winners:
• $50 million paid to the single Grand Prize Winner
• $30 million to be distributed among up to 3 runners up

HOW TO REGISTER
 Team registration opens with the announcement of the full competition guidelines on Earth Day, April 22nd, 2021. The competition will last for 4 years through Earth Day 2025. XPRIZE teams come from all around the world. Teams can be composed of university groups, high school students, startups and innovators, small to midsize companies, community-based organizations, families or individuals. Registering to create or join a team is one of the first steps you can take to help create a better future for all.

On May 17th, 2021 the Comings Foundation registered.

The reason I registered is that I anticipate the costs of launching an effective NET based on Enhanced weathering, may require more funds than the Comings Foundation alone, can provide. EVERY DOLLAR HELPS.

Both a detailed listing of the Competition Guidelines and Rules and Regulations, Competitor Agreement can be found on the Elon Musk website. The following are some of the most important elements and points.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COMPETITION
1. Increase the global supply of cost-effective, durable carbon removal solutions
2. Prove the scientific / technical viability of a diversity of high-quality carbon removal solutions that can be deployed and maintained sustainably, including both existing and new solutions
3. Accelerate the scaling and equitable deployment of proven carbon removal solutions
4. Inspire the next generation of talent and innovators in carbon removal

SOLUTION SCOPE
 Solutions In-Scope for the Prize any carbon negative project is eligible to win prize money provided it removes CO2 from the air or oceans and sequesters it in a durable way. Teams may compete in any of the major carbon removal pathways listed below, or some combination of the pathways. This list of pathways is not intended to be exhaustive:
● Air: direct air capture (DAC) plus sequestration.
● Oceans: algae, kelp, plankton, direct seawater removal, ocean alkalinity enhancement, etc.
● Land: Trees, agricultural solutions, soils, soil microbes and fungi, roots, grasslands, large-scale outdoor natural ecosystem solutions, biochar, etc.
● Rocks: Mineralization, enhanced weathering, mine tailings, subsurface geologic sequestration combined with CO2 removal from the air and/or the ocean, etc.

SOLUTIONS OUT OF SCOPE FOR THE PRIZE
● Pathways which result exclusively in short-term re-release of CO2 without sequestration, e. g. CO2 to fuel. Solutions must demonstrate long-term, durable sequestration of CO2.
● Utilization-only technologies that demonstrate conversion of CO2 but not removal of CO2 from the air and/or the ocean.
● Solutions that may capture CO2 from the air and/or the ocean but cannot demonstrate net negative emissions.
● Solutions that remove CO2 but are not net negative on a lifecycle basis, e. g. enhanced oil recovery.
● Solutions whose CO2 benefits are only theoretical or cannot be directly measured with adequate precision over the course of the competition.
 Novel Solutions vs. Solutions That Already Exist There is no restriction on existing solutions competing for the prize, provided they can meet all the competition requirements. Similarly, there is no restriction on never-before-demonstrated carbon removal solutions competing for the prize, provided they can meet all the competition requirements.

DEMONSTRATION LOCATIONS
 Teams may demonstrate their carbon removal solution at any location of their choosing throughout the competition. Teams must be prepared to have XPRIZE visit their project site as needed throughout the competition and in the final year of the competition to validate the team’s performance claims.

NET-NEGATIVE CO2 REMOVAL
 Solutions must demonstrate net-negative and durable CO2 removal to be considered in-scope. It is the responsibility of teams to prove through their demonstrations and a life cycle analysis that they meet this requirement. Negative emissions may be established on a net basis over the lifetime of the demonstrated carbon removal project. In addition, teams must demonstrate how the sequestered carbon will be maintained (on a net basis) for at least 100 years to ensure that more carbon is removed than re-emitted. Finally, teams must demonstrate how they will achieve net negative CO2 removal in the 1 Mt/yr and Gt/yr scenarios.

DURABLE CO2 REMOVAL
 The durability threshold for the competition is 100 years. This means that to be considered removed, CO2 must be sequestered (on a net basis) over at least 100 years. A cradle-to-grave life cycle analysis will be required to validate claims of 100-year durability in addition to net negativity. In particular, establishing 100-year durability should be a function of inherent verifiable and quantifiable durability of the CO2 removal solution (i. e. the stability of the sequestered carbon) and any required repetition, long-term management, and/or monitoring that may be required to ensure that removed CO2 remains sequestered on net through 100 years. For example, CO2 mineralized into rock may be known to be inherently stable (e. g. geologic sequestration), but any monitoring and verification requirements during that 100 years must still be explained and costed. Similarly, a standing forest may be known to have much more dynamic CO2 flux over time and less inherent durability, so proposed methods of ensuring long-term net sequestration through 100 years and any associated costs must be explained in detail.

ELIGIBILITY
 XPRIZE believes that solutions can come from anyone, anywhere: Scientists, engineers, academics, entrepreneurs, and other innovators from all over the world are invited to form a team and register to compete. To participate, a team is required to first create an account in the Prize Operations Platform (POP) and pay a registration fee of $250. POP is an online platform through which teams will register for the competition, pay the registration fee, and submit important documents throughout the competition. Teams are expected to maintain their POP profiles throughout the competition, ensuring their profile is up to date with the most recent team information. A Team may recruit and add additional team members at any time throughout the Competition.
Interested Teams and individuals are encouraged to collaborate and share skills. A team may recruit additional experts and can add new members to their team at any time throughout the competition. Teams may also merge with other teams during the competition. Teams must notify XPRIZE of a merger before it takes place. In the case of mergers, teams must register under one legal entity and assign one team leader. Additional details regarding team mergers are provided in the Competitor Agreement.
Throughout the registration period, XPRIZE will host a series of webinars and other programming for all Registered Teams. XPRIZE webinars will allow teams to get to know each other and also to receive important competition updates. Participation in these programs, while not mandatory, is strongly encouraged.
While global in focus, the competition will be conducted in English. All teams must be prepared to communicate with XPRIZE and make their submissions in English.

COMPETITION CALENDAR
 The competition takes place in two phases over 4 years. All dates are provided for planning purposes only and are subject to change until confirmed by XPRIZE.

PHASE ONE: PROOF OF CONCEPT (YEAR 1, 2021-2022)
● Team Registration Opens April 22, 2021
● Prize Guideline Public Comment Period April 22 - May 13, 2021
● Final Guideline Publication June 21, 202
● Student Award Submission Deadline 1 October 1, 2021
● Student Award Judging October 2021
● $5M Student Awards Announced November 2021
● Milestone Registration Deadline December 1, 2021
● Milestone Submission Deadline February 1, 2022
● Milestone Judging February - March 2022
● $15M Milestone Prizes Announced April 22, 2022

Since phase one relates to Milestone and Student Prizes, it is not relevant to us except for term registration.

PHASE TWO: FULL DEMONSTRATION (YEARS 2-4, 2022-2025)
● Ongoing Team Solution Development April 2022 - February 2024
● Grand Prize Registration Deadline December 1, 2023
● Finalist Site Visit Application Deadline February 1, 2024
● Finalist Judging and Selection February - March 2024
● Announce Finalists April 22, 2024
● Finalist Measurement & Verification Site Visits May 2025 - January 2025
● Final Team Submission Deadline February 1, 2025
● Final Judging February - March 2025
● $80M Grand Prizes Announced April 22, 2025


TEAM REGISTRATION
 Interested teams are required to register for the competition in the Prize Operations Platform (POP) and share a brief overview of their carbon removal concept with the community. Registration for the prize will remain open through December 1, 2023.
Teams who do not win a Milestone Prize are eligible to compete for the Grand Prizes. Teams may still register to compete in Phase 2 of the competition even if they do not compete in Phase 1.



Phase 2 - Full Demonstration (Years 2-4):
 To be eligible to win a Grand Prize, teams must demonstrate their entire carbon removal solution end-to-end in the final year of competition. Demonstrations must qualify for a site visit, during which XPRIZE will verify each Finalist team’s performance. Teams must apply for a site visit by the Finalist Submission Deadline (Feb 1, 2024) by submitting data and evidence of their carbon removal solution’s ongoing operations, a cost model, and evidence that the competition’s sustainable scalability criteria are met. Twenty (20) teams will be granted site visits, which will be conducted between May 2024 - January 2025. Qualifying for a site visit signifies a team as a XPRIZE Carbon Removal Finalist.


Phase 2 -- Winner Selection (Year 4)
In February 2025, Finalists will have an opportunity to submit a final data set and updated cost model to XPRIZE judges before being considered for the Grand Prizes. The Grand Prize Winners will be announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2025.
How to Compete: Submission Requirements

To be considered for Grand Prizes in Phase 2 the competition, teams are required to show three things:

COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS
Demonstrate a Working CDR solution
 In Phase 1: Provide evidence, including 3rd party verification, of successful operation of the key enabling component or technology of a carbon removal solution. Demonstrate a working CDR solution of any scale.
Submit a technical proposal for the fully operational (1000 tons/year) carbon removal project the team will demonstrate for Phase 2.
Presumably, Phase 1 does not apply to us.
 In Phase 2: Provide evidence, including 3rd party verification, of a complete fully operational carbon removal project of 1000 tons/ year

Calculate Cost at Full Scale
Phase 1 & 2: Calculate the fully considered cost per ton at 1 Mt/yscale.

Make a Case for Massive and Sustainable Scalability
Phase 1 & 2: Provide evidence that the solution is sustainable today, can achieve gigaton scale in future, and can remain sustainable at gigaton scale.

NOTE: Submission templates and additional submission guidance will be released in advance of each submission deadline (October 1, 2021; February 1, 2022; December 1, 2023).

HOW TO WIN: EVALUATION CRITERIA
 To win, the prize teams must demonstrate CO2 removal at the kt/y scale, model costs at the Mt/y scale, and present a plan to reach Gt/y scale.
Teams will be judged based on their Fully Considered Cost, their Operational performance, and against the Sustainable Scalability requirements. Teams who meet or exceed the ambitious Operational and Sustainability requirements will be ranked by their “Fully Considered Cost” of CO2 removal. The teams with the lowest cost - after meeting or exceeding the Operational and Sustainable Scaling requirements will win. In the event of a tie, or where a winner cannot be selected due to uncertainties in the cost model, judges will use the Operational and Sustainable Scaling requirements, and in particular the scale demonstrated during the competition, in their final selection of winners. Teams that can best control and reduce uncertainties in their measurements and calculations will have a competitive advantage.

1. Calculation of Fully Considered Cost
Full Cost of CO2 removal
 Costs must be modeled at a hypothetical project scale of 1Mt/y (average net CO2 removal capacity). The calculation must include all costs over the life of the project on a levelized basis. Costs must include:
1. Materials (feedstocks, other raw materials)
2. Transport (movement of matter and energy)
3. Processing (opex* & energy costs)
4. Longitudinal management (durability/storage -- per year maintenance costs)

*Opex Operating expenses including rent, equipment, inventory costs, marketing, payroll, insurance, and funds allocated for research and development & energy costs)

Teams must provide cost estimates that are reasonably accurate and precise, and presented in such a way that the major cost factors can be broken out and analyzed for error, uncertainty, and sensitivity.

XPRIZE will publish standardized costs for use in cost calculations (i. e. cost of land (by region, by type)), labor (person-hours, skill level), energy (electricity, heat), discount rate, etc.

 Cost of Risk and Externalities
 Any significant liabilities and risk factors beyond the expected technical project costs must be identified and quantified wherever possible.
Since the precision of these factors is expected to be lower than the cost calculation presented above, it will be considered separately by the judges and at their discretion, including the extent to which the team has holistically evaluated the potential sources of risks and external impacts of their proposed activities.

 Revenue & Value
 Any factors which may offset the cost of Carbon Removal can be specified, including the sale of valuable goods (i. e. CO2 derived products or valuable co-products, provided the resulting end-use does not re-emit the captured carbon) and any tangible & measurable environmental co-benefits (e. g. improved biodiversity, improved crop yields, improved fisheries, ecosystem services, etc.). Teams may not count the value of social benefits derived from slowing climate change for this exercise. Teams may not count government or philanthropic subsidies as revenue.
The judges will consider claims of revenue and value creation at their discretion.

2. Operational Requirements
Demonstration Requirements
 Operate a full carbon removal project (or projects) at a combined scale of 1000 tons of CO2 removed per year. Demonstrations must include:
1. Removal of CO2 from air or ocean
2. All steps in the carbon removal process
3. Durable sequestration of CO2, including any required monitoring & management of the CO2 store.
Remove 1000 cumulative tons of CO2 in the final year of competition.
Teams must be prepared to sustain operations during the demonstration period to accommodate XPRIZE verification.

 3rd party Verification
 Performance of the demonstration must be verified by a qualified 3rd party of XPRIZE’s choosing.

 Confidence in the solution’s efficacy
 Teams must demonstrate their solution’s performance with adequate precision, meeting or exceeding current best practices.

 3. Sustainable Scalability
 Scale Demonstrated during Competition
 Teams must report cumulative net tons of CO2 removed during the competition.
Scalable to Gigaton scale
 Teams must convince judges of the credibility of their plan to achieve gigaton scale removal, including the estimated time horizon for achieving gigaton scale given demonstrated scale to date, and detailed accounting of any key limiting factors.
Durable CO2 Sequestration
 Teams must demonstrate, and include in their cost calculations, a credible plan to maintain their CO2 stores for at least 100 years, taking into consideration all existing best practices relating to measurement reporting and verification.
Net Negative Performance
 Teams must demonstrate using a Lifecycle Analysis that their solution results in net CO2 removal (“negative emissions”) on a lifecycle basis annually, and that net negative performance can be sustained as the solution scales to 1 Mt/y and 1 Gt/y.
Environmental Sustainability
Teams must explicitly address energy, land, water, and other natural resource needs, benefits, positive or negative impacts on biodiversity and other ecosystem services, and constraints of their solutions.
 Social License & Environmental Justice
Teams must discuss their plan for achieving broad social license and acceptance, equity, and environmental justice that will allow the solution to achieving low-cost and gigaton scale. Teams must address the social and policy implications of their carbon removal demonstration as it reaches the Mt/y and Gt/y scale, including impact on local communities.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Competing Teams
 1. Good Standing: Teams must register their intent to compete on the XPRIZE Prize Operations Portal (POP), sign the Competitor’s Agreement, and pay the registration fee ahead of the deadline in order to be eligible for an award. Each team must specify a legal entity (i.e., individual or corporation). After being named a winner by the judges XPRIZE will pay the award to the specified legal entity.
2. Fundraising: All costs of competing in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal are the responsibility of the competing team.
3. Safe and Ethical Behavior: Teams are responsible for maintaining the health and safety of their teams and the environment over the course of their participation in the prize. Teams must comply with all laws and regulations which apply to their participation in the prize. XPRIZE reserves the right to expel teams who do not uphold reasonable standards of safety and ethics.

Advisory Board
1. Selection of Advisors: XPRIZE and its Partners and Sponsors will collaborate to appoint a panel of subject matter experts, and big-picture thought leaders to serve as the Advisory Board for the competition. The Advisory Board will remain in place throughout the competition to advise XPRIZE regarding the scientific, economic, social, and other elements of the competition.
2. Independence: The Advisory Board will be independent of XPRIZE, Sponsors, and all teams and team members. No Advisor, nor any member of the Advisor’s immediate family, shall participate, nor have any financial or other material interest, in XPRIZE, the Sponsor(s), and/or any team or team member. All members of the Advisory Board shall promptly disclose to XPRIZE any such current, former, or expected future conflict of interest with XPRIZE, the Title Sponsor, or any team or team member.
 3. Role of Advisory Board: The duties and responsibilities of the Advisory Board may include, but not be limited to: (i) assisting with the establishment of qualifications for prospective Judges; (ii) recommending members of the Judging Panel; (iii) assisting with development of testing protocols and judging criteria; (iv) and providing input toward the development of these Competition Guidelines.

Judging Panel
1. Selection of Judges: The Judging Panel (as defined in the Competitor Agreement) will be composed of highly-qualified subject matter experts from a diversity of fields and professional backgrounds, selected and vetted by XPRIZE, Sponsors, and the competition Advisory Board.
 2. Independence: The Judging Panel will be independent of XPRIZE, the Title Sponsor, any other prize sponsors, and all teams and team members. No Judge, nor any member of Judge’s immediate family, shall participate, nor have any financial or other material interest, in XPRIZE, the sponsor(s), and/or any team or team member. All members of the Judging Panel shall promptly disclose to XPRIZE any such current, former, or expected future conflict of interest with XPRIZE, the sponsor, and/or any team or team member.
 3. Role of Judging Panel: The duties and responsibilities of the Judging Panel will include, but not be limited to: (i) evaluating teams’ compliance with the Competitor Agreement as they relate to prize operations, these Competition Guidelines, and the Rules and Regulations for the purposes of the competition; and (ii) the awarding of points and selection of teams that will proceed to each subsequent round of the competition.
Grounds for Judging Panel Decisions Official decisions made by the Judging Panel will be approved by a majority of the Judges that vote on each such decision after careful and impartial consideration of the testing protocols, procedures, guidelines, rules, regulations, criteria, results, and scores set forth in the Competitor Agreement, these Competition Guidelines, Rules and Regulations, and all other applicable exhibits to the Competitor Agreement. If any vote of the Judges results in a tie, then the Judging Panel shall determine, in its sole and absolute discretion, the mechanism to settle the tie. Similarly, if one or more teams are tied at any stage during the competition, the Judging Panel shall have the sole and absolute discretion to settle the tie.
Decisions of Judging Panel are Final The Judging Panel shall have sole and absolute discretion: (i) to allocate duties among the Judges; (ii) to determine the degree of accuracy and error rate that is acceptable to the Judging Panel for all competition calculations, measurements, and results, where not specified in the Rules and Regulations; (iii) to determine the methodology used by the Judging Panel to render its decisions; (iv) to declare the winners of the competition; and (v) to award the prize purses and other awards. Decisions of the Judging Panel shall be binding on XPRIZE, teams, and each team member. XPRIZE and teams agree not to dispute any decision or ruling of the Judging Panel, including decisions regarding the degree of accuracy or error rate of any competition calculations, measurements, and results. Teams shall have no right to observe other teams’ testing or evaluation, or to be informed of other teams’ calculations, measurements, and results, unless such information is made publicly available by XPRIZE, or by a team choosing to release their own data publicly.

Questions Based on Requirements for the X Prize
• Given the concerns voiced in the Negative Thinking sections above, should we even bother with attempting to compete for the Musk prize with its requirement for the following items? Would it simply be a waste of our time?
• Would you be willing to be part of the Comings Foundation team? This would involve potentially receiving funds to pursue research necessary to answer the questions posted in in the above parts of this document. If the answer is yes, your initial stipend would be repeated on a yearly basis for the full duration of the time required.
• If we gene decide to try, would you be willing to be part of the Comings Foundation Musk X-prize team? This would also involve potentially receiving research funds to allow us to answer all of the question posted by the X-prize Competition Guidelines.
• If you are willing to join this combined team, who else would you recommend joining? How many people do you think should be on the team? What range of expertise should the team include? If we decide to do a demonstration in wet tropical country as in South America, this will require team members able to speak Spanish and interact with the governments involved.
• “Teams may demonstrate their carbon removal solution at any location of their choosing throughout the competition. Teams must be prepared to have XPRIZE judges visit their project site as needed throughout the competition and in the final year of the competition to validate the team’s performance claims.” Based on this requirement where is the best place for this site and what should it demonstrate? Possibilities are: 1. Site of spreading crushed mafic on cropland in US southern states, 2. Site of spreading crushed mafic rocks on non-cropland, 3. Centralized site of grinding and storing of olivine/basalt using clean energy and nearby test site.
• Can we demonstrate carbon removal at the kt/y scale, model the costs at the Mt/y scale, and make a case for a sustainable path to Gt/y scale? The team with the most scalable and lowest-cost carbon removal technology will win.
• Can we show that this NET can durably and reliably remove and sequester CO2?
• Can we demonstrate how the sequestered carbon will be maintained (on a net basis) for at least 100 years to ensure that more carbon is removed than re-emitted? Given the permanence of the White Cliffs of Dover, this seems obvious.
• The X-prize guidelines state that “CO2 mineralized into rock may be known to be inherently stable (e. g. geologic sequestration), but any monitoring and verification requirements during that 100 years must still be explained and costed.” How do we monitor, over 100 years, the stability of the CO2 sequestration? Can this initially be tested every year and then, depending on results, changed to a 5 yr or 10-year testing schedule? How much would that cost?
• One of the sections of the Competition Guidelines specifically addresses enhanced weathering.
“CO2 mineralized into rock may be known to be inherently stable (e. g. geologic sequestration), but any monitoring and verification requirements during that 100 years must still be explained and costed. Can we do this? Does the previous question cover this?
• Can we demonstrate how we will achieve net negative CO2 removal in the 1 Mt/yr and Gt/yr scenarios?
• Interested teams are required to register for the competition in the Prize Operations Platform (POP) and share a brief overview of their carbon removal concept with the community. How would we write up this brief overview? Submit a suggestion.
• Our team must apply for a site visit by the Finalist Submission Deadline (Feb 1, 2024) by submitting data and evidence of their carbon removal solution’s ongoing operations, a cost model, and evidence that the competition’s sustainable scalability criteria are met. In February 2025, Finalists will have an opportunity to submit a final data set and updated cost model to XPRIZE judges before being considered for the Grand Prizes. What research, planning, and development costs will we need to accomplish this and meet this deadline?

• The following is required for Phase 2
• Can we demonstrate a working CDR solution and provide evidence, including 3rd party verification, of a complete fully operational carbon removal project of 1000 tons/ year?
• Can we calculate cost at full scale cost per ton at 1 Mt/yscale.
• Can we make a case for massive and sustainable scalability?
• Can we provide evidence that the solution is sustainable today, can achieve gigaton scale in future, and can remain sustainable at gigaton scale? I would anticipate that if we can develop detailed, researched based, plans for building cost effective Enhanced Weathering NET units, they can be dispersed thought the world to gain sustained gigaton capacity.
• What will it require in terms of research funding to answer these questions and accomplish the desired demonstration?

• Throughout the registration period, XPRIZE will host a series of webinars and other programming for all Registered Teams. XPRIZE webinars will allow teams to get to know each other and also to receive important competition updates. Participation in these programs, while not mandatory, is strongly encouraged. If you join the team will you be willing to participate in this? I anticipate this would be a valuable learning exercise.

• Can we determine costs modeled at a hypothetical project scale of 1Mt/y (average net CO2 removal capacity)? The calculation must include all costs over the life of the project on a levelized basis including:
1. Materials (feedstocks, other raw materials.
2. Transport (movement of matter and energy)
3. Operating expenses including rent, equipment, inventory costs, marketing, payroll, insurance, and funds allocated for research and development & energy costs)
4. Longitudinal management (durability/storage -- per year maintenance costs)

• Teams must provide cost estimates that are reasonably accurate and precise, and presented in such a way that the major cost factors can be broken out and analyzed for error, uncertainty, and sensitivity. Can this be done? XPRIZE will publish standardized costs for use in cost calculations (i. e. cost of land (by region, by type)), labor (person-hours, skill level), energy (electricity, heat), discount rate, etc.
• Any significant liabilities and risk factors beyond the expected technical project costs must be identified and quantified wherever possible. Since the precision of these factors is expected to be lower than the cost calculation presented above, it will be considered separately by the judges and at their discretion, including the extent to which the team has holistically evaluated the potential sources of risks and external impacts of their proposed activities.

• Any factors which may offset the cost of Carbon Removal can be specified, including the sale of valuable goods (i. e. CO2 derived products or valuable co-products, provided the resulting end-use does not re-emit the captured carbon) and any tangible & measurable environmental co-benefits (e. g. improved biodiversity, improved crop yields, improved fisheries, ecosystem services, etc.). Teams may not count the value of social benefits derived from slowing climate change for this exercise. Teams may not count government or philanthropic subsidies as revenue.
In our case enhanced weathering cost may be offset by increased crop yields, and possibly, as shown above, nickel retrieved by nickel hyper accumulators, such as those in the Alyssum family.
• Can we operate a full carbon removal project (or projects) at a combined scale of 1000 tons of CO2 removed per year? Demonstrations must include: Removal of CO2 from air or ocean, all steps in the carbon removal process and durable sequestration of CO2, including any required monitoring & management of the CO2 stored.
• Can we remove 1000 cumulative tons of CO2 in the final year of competition? Teams must be prepared to sustain operations during the demonstration period to accommodate XPRIZE verification.
• Can we meet the requirement of a performance demonstration verified by a qualified 3rd party of XPRIZE’s choosing? Teams must demonstrate their solution’s performance with adequate precision, meeting or exceeding current best practices.

• Can we me the following criteria for sustainable scalability?
Scale Demonstrated during Competition
 Teams must report cumulative net tons of CO2 removed during the competition.
Scalable to Gigaton scale
 Teams must convince judges of the credibility of their plan to achieve gigaton scale removal, including the estimated time horizon for achieving gigaton scale given demonstrated scale to date, and detailed accounting of any key limiting factors.
Durable CO2 Sequestration
 Teams must demonstrate, and include in their cost calculations, a credible plan to maintain their CO2 stores for at least 100 years, taking into consideration all existing best practices relating to measurement reporting and verification.
Net Negative Performance
 Teams must demonstrate using a Lifecycle Analysis that their solution results in net CO2 removal (“negative emissions”) on a lifecycle basis annually, and that net negative performance can be sustained as the solution scales to 1 Mt/y and 1 Gt/y.
Environmental Sustainability
Teams must explicitly address energy, land, water, and other natural resource needs, benefits, positive or negative impacts on biodiversity and other ecosystem services, and constraints of their solutions.
 Social License & Environmental Justice
Teams must discuss their plan for achieving broad social license and acceptance, equity, and environmental justice that will allow the solution to achieving low-cost and gigaton scale. Teams must address the social and policy implications of their carbon removal demonstration as it reaches the Mt/y and Gt/y scale, including impact on local communities.