Finalists for 2020 Keeling Curve Prize announced during Earth Optimism Summit

20 world-class projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or promote carbon uptake are vying for ten $25,000 prizes 

ASPEN, Colorado, April 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Finalists for the 2020 Keeling Curve Prize include projects that turn carbon dioxide into stone, bring solar energy to rural Africa, help people get paid for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and invite people online to post messages about climate change to those they love living decades in the future. The 20 finalists, announced during the Smithsonian's digital Earth Optimism Summit, were chosen from over 300 applications from all over the world.

"We are thrilled to present this year's finalists," said Jacquelyn Francis, founder and director of the Keeling Curve Prize. "They have strong potential to curb global warming emissions and demonstrate that game-changing solutions to this crisis are well underway."

Every year, the Keeling Curve Prize awards $25,000 to 10 projects around the globe with significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon uptake. The prize is named after scientist Charles David Keeling's famous Keeling Curve, which has been showing an increase in carbon dioxide levels in the Earth's atmosphere since 1958.

"We aim to bend the Keeling Curve by identifying and supporting the world's most promising global warming solutions projects," said Francis.

Four finalists were vetted by a team of research analysts and selected by the advisory council for each of this year's five prize categories:

• Capture & Utilization
• Energy
• Transport & Mobility
• Finance
• Social & Cultural Pathways

An international panel of judges from the private, public, and nonprofit sectors will select two winners in each category. The winners will be announced in June. 

"The Keeling Curve Prize adds enormous value to the effort to curb global warming," said Dan Kammen, a KCP advisory council member and Distinguished Professor of Energy at UC Berkeley. "It identifies emerging climate solutions, funds them directly, and raises their profile among other potential funders. And the award process is designed to move prize money to these important projects quickly and efficiently."