Two Lab proponents from the Lab’s 2018 cycle were awarded the Keeling Curve Prize, in recognition of innovation in climate action. Clean Energy Works leads 2018 Lab instrument Pay As You Save for Clean Transport. Three Wheels United leads 2018 Lab instrument Financing for Low-Carbon Auto-Rickshaws. Read the full press release from the Keeling Curve Prize here, or below.
ASPEN, Colo., June 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Winners of the 2019 Keeling Curve Prize range from a company recycling CO₂ into cost-competitive chemicals and fuels, to an initiative greening India’s auto rickshaws, to a project engaging churches worldwide in climate education.
The winners were chosen from almost 150 applications from around the world. The prize recognizes projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or promote carbon uptake.
“We must take immediate action to address global warming, and the Keeling Curve Prize is shining a spotlight on practical solutions that can reduce heat-trapping emissions, increase carbon uptake, and slow climate change,” said Brenda Ekwurzel, director of climate science for the Union of Concerned Scientists and one of this year’s judges.
“We need a diversity of approaches so that we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, remove them from our atmosphere, and protect our planet,” said Jacquelyn Francis, founding director of the Keeling Curve Prize.
An international panel of judges selected two winners in each of five categories:
Transportation
- Jetty (Mexico City) is using technology to establish and enforce stricter service standards on private suppliers of loosely regulated “colectivo” services in Mexico City.
- Three Wheels United (Bangalore, India) is using finance and technology to decarbonize the auto rickshaw market.
Social & Cultural Impacts
- World Council of Churches (Geneva) aims to provide houses of worship with tools and know-how to enable reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through youth engagement.
- Science Based Targets (Global) helps financial institutions use science-based targets to align their investment and lending portfolios with the Paris Agreement.
Carbon Capture & Utilization
- Opus 12 (USA) is developing a device that recycles CO₂ into cost-competitive chemicals and fuels.
- WILDCOAST (USA/Mexico) is working to secure a resilient coastline to help protect communities, economies and ecosystems from climate change impacts in the Gulf of California.
Energy Access
- African Clean Energy (Lesotho) produces cookstoves that reduce smoke emissions and solar electricity for small electronics and LED lighting.
- Solar Sister (USA) invests in women’s enterprises in off-grid communities in Africa.
Finance
- Clean Energy Works (USA) is using pay-as-you-save financing to help transportation companies switch to electric buses.
- CalCEF/Nexus (USA) is forming a Qualified Clean Energy Opportunity Zone Fund to deploy solar, wind, energy storage and other clean economy assets.
