XPRIZE Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to driving technological innovation, has recently launched its latest endeavor – the XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition. This groundbreaking competition boasts a substantial prize purse of $119 million spread over a five-year period.
XPRIZE is renowned for its impactful and incentivized prize competitions that take on some of the most critical global challenges. These competitions are designed to push the boundaries of innovation and creativity, motivating participants to create groundbreaking solutions with the potential to revolutionize the world for the better. At the core of every XPRIZE competition lies a powerful incentive structure that urges individuals, teams, and organizations to leverage their ingenuity and expertise in tackling complex global issues.
In 2021, XPRIZE kicked off the Carbon Removal competition, aimed at fostering the development of innovative CO2 removal solutions to combat emissions. By April 2022, the competition had announced the 15 winning teams, each receiving $1 million to advance their projects. This year saw the conclusion of this particular initiative.
Tackling the Global Water Crisis
The newly unveiled XPRIZE competition features a total prize pool of $119 million, made possible through the Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative. The primary goal of this competition is to confront the urgent issue of global water scarcity by nurturing the creation of dependable, sustainable, and affordable seawater desalination systems.
Despite our planet being predominantly covered by water, only a tiny fraction (0.5%) of it is readily accessible to meet the needs of the Earth’s burgeoning population, which currently stands at around 8 billion people. Water scarcity represents a critical challenge affecting 80% of the global population, posing significant threats to communities worldwide. With water demand projected to outpace supply by 40% by 2030, immediate action is imperative to address this looming crisis.
However, traditional desalination methods face notable hurdles. One major drawback is the adverse environmental impact of these methods, exacerbating the very issues they aim to resolve. The energy-intensive nature of desalination processes leads to heightened carbon emissions and energy consumption, further exacerbating climate change. Roughly 2.5% of the world’s total energy consumption is dedicated to treating contaminated water and managing water supply systems. Additionally, around 60% of greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to energy usage. The carbon footprint associated with the reverse osmosis (RO) desalination process of seawater ranges from 0.4 to 6.7 kilograms of CO2 per cubic meter, meaning desalinating 1000 cubic meters of seawater could potentially result in emitting up to 6.7 tons of CO2. Existing desalination methods not only pose significant environmental risks but also remain financially out of reach for many low- to medium-income countries. Hence, there is a pressing need for innovative solutions that can effectively harness the Earth’s vast ocean water resources, a challenge that the XPRIZE water competition seeks to tackle.
Innovating Solutions for a Thirsty World
The XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition aims to address this challenge by motivating participating teams to develop innovative desalination technologies. These technologies are envisioned to pave the way for a future where clean water is abundantly available to all. Competing teams are urged to create solutions that not only combat water scarcity but also contribute to broader sustainability objectives, including climate action and ecosystem preservation. Winning teams are expected to excel in creating desalination technologies that possess key characteristics such as scalability, cost-effectiveness, reliability, resilience in changing climates, and environmental sustainability.
The XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition is structured into two distinct tracks, each with its own set of objectives aimed at making a significant impact on global water availability. Track A focuses on developing innovative desalination systems and offers a prize pool of $70 million. Within this track, Moonshot Awards totaling $20 million are also available to incentivize breakthrough innovations in desalination technology. On the other hand, Track B, with a prize pool of $9.5 million, centers on the development of novel membrane materials for desalination processes. Detailed competition guidelines and entry requirements can be found in the Guidelines document provided by XPRIZE.
The success of the XPRIZE Water Scarcity competition holds the potential to bring about a profound impact on global water security and environmental sustainability. By unlocking access to the vast reserves of seawater, which make up over 96% of Earth’s water resources, this initiative aims to address the root causes of water scarcity and alleviate water stress worldwide.
