Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Green Daily, Automotive X-Prize
Voting opens for X Prize's "Crazy Green Idea" videos
click then scroll down to watch videos
Back in September, the X Prize Foundation asked: "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?" 133 people answered the question with a video entry and the top three ideas - as selected by the Foundation - are now accepting your vote for the shot at a $25,000 award. The three videos are titled: "The Energy Independence X PRIZE," "The Capacitor Challenge," "Energy X-Prize: Reduce Home Energy Usage."
The only one that hits directly on green car technology is the capacitor one, but there were a lot of transportation-related submissions in the 133 entrants. Some people even wanted to look into time travel, but there won't be a Doc and Marty X Prize any time soon. Voting is open until November 30 and you can watch all three videos after the jump.
[Source: X Prize]
The Capacitor Challenge
The Energy Independence X PRIZE
Energy X-Prize: Reduce Home Energy Usage
PRESS RELEASE
X PRIZE Foundation Opens Official Voting for the $25,000 "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?" Video Contest
Public will vote to determine winner of the competition
November 18, 2008, Playa Vista, CA – The public voting phase of the "What's Your Crazy Green Idea?" Video Contest on YouTube, sponsored by Prize Capital, has begun! Out of 133 video submissions, the X PRIZE Foundation has selected three finalists and is asking the world to choose the idea that should be explored as the next X PRIZE in Energy and the Environment. The contestant whose video receives the most votes before November 30 will win the $25,000 award from Prize Capital and have their Crazy Green Idea explored as the next X PRIZE in Energy and the Environment. The public is encouraged to vote for their favorite entry at: www.xprize.org/crazy-green-idea.
The competition, announced on September 10 at MIT, was to develop a two-minute video describing a concept for the next X PRIZE in Energy and Environment. Submitted ideas ranged from creating microalgae farms to harvesting energy from roads to harnessing the power of time travel. The competition closed on October 31, 2008. A panel of judges from the X PRIZE Foundation scored each of the eligible entries and selected the three top videos.
The three finalists are:
Jonathan Dreher, from Cambridge, MA: "Energy X PRIZE: Reduce Home Energy Usage"
A prize to reduce the home energy consumption of American communities.
Alan Silva, from Roy, UT: "The Energy Independence X PRIZE"
A prize to develop energy-independent homes that exist completely off the grid.
Kyle Good, from Irvine, CA: "The Capacitor Challenge"
A prize to develop a new storage medium, an "ultra-capacitor."
"We were inspired by the sheer number of ideas and inquiries from the YouTube community," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. "Narrowing the list to three finalists was difficult, and now it's up to the public to decide which one is truly worthy of being explored as an X PRIZE in the area of Energy and the Environment."
"We sponsored this contest because we think the world is full of great ideas from people who don't have a way to share them," said Lee Stein, Chairman and Founder of Prize Capital, LLC. "By offering a prize, we provided a platform to share and surface innovative ideas. We hope this is the first of many prize winning checks Prize Capital will be awarding for smart energy ideas. After seeing the finalist videos, I'll be happy to hand any of them a check for $25,000."
Public voting for the top video ends on November 30, 2008. The winner will be congratulated in person by Dr. Peter H. Diamandis and Lee Stein, and a media announcement will be made.
ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION
The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world's attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world's first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation and its partner BT Global Services are creating prizes in Space and Ocean Exploration, Life Sciences, Energy & Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org.
ABOUT PRIZE CAPITAL, LLC
Prize Capital's mission is to promote the preservation of rich ecological habitat areas around the world, by investing in environmentally sustainable economic development, new technologies and biodiversity preservation. Through its Earth 2.0 programs, Prize Capital combines prizes and capital to solve global energy and environmental challenges, for example, renewable energy, water or deforestation. The company's new financing mechanism combines inducement prize competitions with parallel equity option investment funds to provide capital for innovators to achieve technological breakthroughs and opens market access to early stage environmental opportunities for investors. Prize Capital's first Earth 2.0 program is a prize and fund for sustainable decentralized renewable energy. For further information, visit www.prizecapital.net.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gorr 12:35PM (11/18/2008)
Ridicoulous, what's the idea ? Maybe they mess with the link volt gang. At least they think of infinite energy, for cheap and no pollution but with any real ideas. They obviously are just theory
people.
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Bill 2:54PM (11/18/2008)
Wow, how underwhelming.
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Alan Silva 1:58PM (11/20/2008)
Howdy y'all. This is Alan Silva. I am one of the finalists for the xpize. I wanted to add a couple of thoughts of why I think my idea will help our world in more ways that just what I stated in my entry. Here are some thoughts that the xprize asked me to write out.
The Energy Independence XPrize is the idea that will affect the greatest number of people around the world and help solve the most pressing and important issues of our time.
Energy is the life blood of the world. Our progress as a society rises and falls on our ability to effectively and safely create and use energy. This is the most revolutionary Xprize idea because it provides 3 fundamental benefits:
1. Energy Independence: The ability to create and produce large amounts of energy in a confined space will not only directly benefit the average family (in this case in their monthly budget by creating a completely energy independent home), but open the door to many areas, including but not limited to:
A. Community and Cities: The blackouts that so plaque large cities like Los Angeles (and cost billions in lost productivity) will become a thing of the past as the technologies developed from this Xprize are expanded to cover larger and larger areas.
B. 3rd world development: Communities in 3rd world countries that currently do not have access to power due to infrastructure and transmission costs will, through this Xprize, be able to develop and grow in ways that will benefit millions around the world.
C. So many other benefits: If each home had an independent supply of power, how much easier would it be to create and sell electric cars? How much pollution would that reduce? The potential benefits are staggering!
2. Safeguard against the effects of Natural Disasters and Terrorism: In this age where terrorism and natural disasters are now commonplace worries, having decentralized power is not only critical for national security, but to the social and financial health of all nations. When hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, one of the worst problems was that when the centralized power grid went down, it shut down all the water filtration stations, water pumps and hospitals in the city. If every pumping station, hospital, and home in the future is individually powered, it will make a huge difference in the outcome of these disasters.
3. 20% Reduction in Nationwide pollution levels: Balancing the effects of pollution and Energy creation is an issue that affects us all. The United States has been hesitant to enter into the 1997 Kyoto agreement in large part because the 33 percent reduction in pollution levels would have directly affected the economy. Residential pollution accounts of over 20% of the nations’ pollution level. An Xprize that helps to eliminate this is something that needs to be taken seriously.
When Spaceship One crossed the threshold of space, we saw a small company do two things that many thought could not be done. We saw a quantum leap in both technology and cost reduction in a field that badly needed both. This Xprize will create leaps in technologies that control Energy Creation, Storage and Transmission. Vote for the Energy Independence Xprize and make a difference that will ultimately affect you, your family, your community and the world!
Alan Silva
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