$25 million? Now thats an incentive.

I recently saw Al Gore's Oscar nominated documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth." It's definitely a film worthy of awards-- extremely fact-oriented and clear, and with many jarring and poignant images from natural disasters that we now know were caused by global warming, along with graphics that show the extent of damage we can expect if we continue harming the atmosphere at this rate. Viewers also get a little glimpse of Al Gore's personal side, what motivates him, life changing moments, yada yada yada. I found it to be an all around excellent film, and if an Oscar nomination isn't enough for the former vice president, he's also been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace prize. Way to go, Gore.
If the film isn't a strong enough incentive to curb greenhouse gas emissions, then hopefully $25 million will do the trick. Gore and Sir Richard Branson, a British billionaire, recently announced the Virgin Earth Challange, a $25 million prize for the best technological solution for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Gore, Branson, and 4 other judges will look for a design with a more innovative solution to the problem than current technologies which mainly capture and store CO2, rather than eliminating CO2 emission altogether.

Branson hopes that governments will follow suit, matching his award or offering a similar incentive. The contest will last over the course of the next 5 years, with an annual review of entries by the judges. There's a chance that no one will win the money if there isn't an adaquate idea, and the contest won't necessarily last the full five years if a winner is found before then.

It's pretty interesting that Branson, Virgin Atlantic Airlines mogul, is taking this venture. The airline industry is one of the biggest producers of harmful CO2 emissions, so the move could be seen as rather hypocritical. On the other hand, it's nice to see that Branson is making a huge investment to counteract the damage he's already caused-- if all of these huge companies that play substantial roles in pollution backed a similar initiaive, we'd create much more motivation among scientists. However, $25 million would also allow for a lot of concrete energy improvement-- more efficient engines, investments in solar and wind energy, rather than waiting and hoping that someone comes up with a genius plan.