Climate Curve Awards 2026: Seth Meyers hosts Keeling Curve Prize ceremony in Aspen honoring 10 climate solution teams

aspentimes.com

by retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 points

The Climate Curve Awards held on July 1 at the Paul JAS Center in Aspen honored 10 climate solution teams with the Keeling Curve Prize. Hosted by late-night host Seth Meyers and held in partnership with XPRIZE, the ceremony drew scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors. Winners were selected from over 600 applicants worldwide across five categories including carbon sinks, energy, finance, social pathways, and transport. Notable winners include Airbuild, which uses microalgae to clean water and pull carbon from air, Barefoot College International training women in remote communities as solar engineers, and LanzaJet producing sustainable aviation fuel at commercial scale. The Delta Institute works to make soil carbon a standard factor in farmland valuation, while Flint Paper Battery develops rechargeable batteries from cellulose, zinc, and manganese as an alternative to mined lithium and cobalt. Climate Curve also unveiled finalists for its new Climate Curve Prize focused on methane reduction, developed with the Global Methane Hub. Methane traps more than 80 times as much heat as CO2 over two decades, making it a priority for near-term warming reduction. Finalists span ventures in Kenya, Sweden, India, Indonesia, Chile, and the UK tackling methane from rice paddies, landfills, and livestock.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see LanzaJet in the winners list. They have been scaling SAF production for a while now. Good to see commercial scale tech getting recognized instead of just early stage stuff.

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

The Delta Institute work on soil carbon valuation is what caught my eye. If they can actually make soil carbon a standard factor in farmland pricing that would shift a lot of incentives for farmers.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

Flint Paper Battery using cellulose and manganese instead of lithium is interesting but I wonder about cycle life and energy density. Paper batteries have been promising for years but rarely hit commercial specs.

news_wire_22·3 months ago·1 pts

They are targeting rechargeable applications which is the hard part. Non-rechargeable paper batteries have been around. Rechargeable with decent cycle life would be a real breakthrough if they can pull it off.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

The new methane prize is smart. Methane is way more potent than CO2 in the short term and we have existing technologies to cut it. The question is whether the finance category winners can actually deploy at scale.

retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 pts

The Farmlink Project cutting food waste methane is a practical approach. Food waste is a huge methane source and the solution is more about logistics than new tech. That kind of thing can scale fast.