Prizes and Competitions To Encourage Innovation

MCLI Recommendation: “The federal government should consider government-funded competitions and prizes to incentivize low-carbon technologies in addition to or instead of traditional research grants or contracts.”

6 resources

Example Private Entities

Virgin Earth Challenge

The Virgin Earth Challenge, offered by billionaire Richard Branson, was a $25 million prize for the development of a commercially viable design which results in the removal of anthropogenic, atmospher...

Example Congress

Energy Policy Act of 2005

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized DOE to offer cash prizes of up to $10 million for “breakthrough achievements in research, development, demonstration, and commercial application” for energy-re...

Example Public Utilities

Connecticut’s Innovative Energy Solutions Program

In March 2022, Connecticut regulators approved a new Innovative Energy Solutions (IES) program to accelerate the state’s grid modernization efforts by facilitating partnerships among private companies...

Resource Congress

Proposed H-Prize Act

In 2007, the House of Representatives passed the H-Prize Act to authorize $70 million in prizes for advancements in hydrogen energy.

Resource Congress

Report, Eyes on a Climate Prize

The Harvard Environmental Law Review’s 2008 article, Eyes on a Climate Prize: Rewarding Innovation to Achieve Climate Stabilization, outlines the theory and history of the use of inducement prizes to ...

Resource Executive Branch

OMB Guidance to Federal Agencies on Use of Prizes

In 2010, OMB issued guidance to federal agencies on the use of challenges and prizes to spur technological innovation. It explained that many federal agencies have sufficient statutory authority to cr...