Sep 19, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

New Report on Circular Carbon Innovation: An Unrealized Investment Opportunity

CLIMATE WEEK — Circular carbon technologies present diverse and significant opportunities for investors, according to a comprehensive analysis by the Circular Carbon Network (CCN) – a new initiative of the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE. The report summarizes industry perspectives on carbon conversion and ways to unlock capital investment in this nascent, yet potentially massive market. In articulating investor needs and opportunities, CCN aims to spark capital investment for innovations that generate economic value by reducing, using and converting CO2 emissions, including breakthroughs that convert CO2 into valuable products developed by teams competing in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE.

“Meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement presents a fantastic opportunity for private investors to join with state and local governments to help de-carbonize our economies. With CCN we are trying to pinpoint and support the role that private capital can play in driving technology innovation in the carbon space,” said Marcius Extavour, senior director of energy and resources at XPRIZE and lead for the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE. “Our early work with CCN helps to frame the investment opportunity and momentum in circular carbon technologies that can both reduce CO2 emissions and make money.”

The new report, “Circular Carbon Innovation: An Unrealized Investment Opportunity,” highlights findings from market surveys, the 2016 Carbon XPRIZE Team Summit and the Clean Innovation Investor Summit, at which more than 200 capital providers, corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders identified key mechanisms for increasing the flow of capital in the space, and ultimately driving new innovation and commercialization at scale. The report provides a comprehensive insider analysis of gaps in the capital space and potential solutions to fill those gaps. CCN’s goal is to unlock the capital to jumpstart a new market of circular carbon innovations, which include carbon conversion, carbon capture and storage, carbon utilization, and direct air capture technologies.

Key takeaways in the analysis include:

  • CO2 products present diverse and significant opportunities for investors and a potential market size of between $800 billion and $1.2 trillion annually by 2030, as estimated by the Global CO2 Initiative.
  • Capital providers and large corporates are increasing engagement and investment at all stages of the technology development cycle.
  • Persistent gaps and barriers in the capital ecosystem have slowed capital flows into circular carbon technologies, including: questions around policy and regulatory risk, capital intensity, unavailability of data and standard financing models.
  • Investors and industry stakeholders believe that these gaps and barriers can be addressed through new financing tools, market services, and technology development support, which are detailed in the full report.

“While we still see a number of challenges for the circular carbon market, we’ve also seen a tremendous amount of innovation and progress in the space,” said Nicholas Eisenberger, founder and managing partner of venture catalyst firm Pure Energy Partners, which invests, advises, and consults in the clean economy space. “It’s very timely to use the tools of business and investment to try to address some of the major environmental challenges the world faces.”

A deep dive into the analysis will be presented at the inaugural Sustainable Innovation Talks hosted by the Canadian Consulate of NYC, titled “Financing Gamechangers in Carbon Management,” on Thurs., Sept. 21. Those wishing to attend can register for the event and obtain more information.

An executive brief and full copy of the “Circular Carbon Innovation: An Unrealized Investment Opportunity” report can be accessed here.

About NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE

The NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE addresses global CO2 emissions by incentivizing teams to develop breakthrough technologies to convert the most CO2 into valuable products with the highest net value. The semifinalist teams’ products range from fish food to fertilizer, concrete to carbon nanotubes, acetone, synthesis gas and alternative fuels, biodegradable plastic, food products, foundational chemical building blocks and more.

About The Circular Carbon Network (CCN)

The Circular Carbon Network is an initiative of the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE designed to bring together diverse industry leaders and stakeholders to share knowledge, build relationships, and increase the flow of capital and deals for circular carbon solutions. For more information, visit https://circularcarbon.org/.

About XPRIZE

XPRIZE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grandest challenges. XPRIZE utilizes a unique combination of gamification, crowd-sourcing, incentive prize theory, and exponential technologies as a formula to make 10x (vs. 10%) impact in the grand challenge domains facing our world. XPRIZE’s philosophy is that—under the right circumstances— igniting rapid experimentation from a variety of diverse lenses is the most efficient and effective method to driving exponential impact and solutions to grand challenges. Active competitions include the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, the $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, the $7M Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE, the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, the $1.75M Water Abundance XPRIZE and the $1M Anu and Naveen Jain Women’s Safety XPRIZE. For more information, visit www.xprize.org.