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Sep 8th 2008
From Economist.com

Save the world and become a millionaire


NECESSITY, the saying goes, is the mother of invention. But in a world where necessities are taken care of, competition may be the next best thing. Prizes lead people to compete ferociously and cunningly. They tap a primitive urge to win, and to be seen winning, even when the prize itself is trivial compared with the effort required to attain it. So when the prize is a substantial amount of money, great things can happen.

In 1919, Raymond Orteig, a Frenchman who made his fortune as an American hotelier, offered the $25,000 Orteig prize for the first non-stop transatlantic flight between the capitals of his two countries. Eight years later, Charles Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris and claimed it.

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Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize FoundationTaking its cue from the Orteig prize, the X Prize Foundation offers large cash prizes for breakthroughs in spaceflight and genomics, and plans to offer more in the fields of education, biology and entrepreneurship. Earlier this year it announced the Progressive Automotive X Prize, which will offer $10m to anyone who can design a marketable car (meaning safe, affordable, road-friendly) that gets 100 miles per gallon. More than 60 teams have entered so far.

This sort of environmental prize is just the beginning. The foundation is developing a whole series of prizes designed to catalyse clean, renewable and cost-effective energy. Combined the value of these prizes could reach as much as $100m. There is already talk of a $10m prize for an alternative jet-fuel.

But the nature of many of these new environmental prizes remains to be decided. On September 10th, a group of “thought leaders” will descend on MIT to help the foundation decide what areas seem most important and promising.

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But the foundation isn’t just looking for input from the pointy-heads. It also wants public input as well. At present, anyone with a bright idea for an energy or environmental prize can submit it with an online form. But just to make sure that everyone with a great idea gets involved, the foundation will also announce on the September 10th a prize for proposing prizes. So, even if you can't save the world, you might be able to design a prize that can—and win something in the process.

The X Prize Foundation is not alone in seeking to reward radical new solutions for the environment with large sums of cash. In February 2007, Richard Branson, a British aviation tycoon, announced the Virgin Earth Challenge, which awards a staggering $25m to anyone who comes up with a commercially viable way to remove man-made greenhouse gases from the atmosphere in way that will help stabilise the Earth’s climate.

Energy is a popular theme among these new environmental prizes. Earlier this year, Scotland announced the Saltire prize, which awards £10m ($17.8m) for breakthroughs in marine renewable energy. Such a prize probably owes as much to Scotland’s concerns about North Sea oil running out as it does to the environment, but it is a substantial green prize nonetheless. And only two months ago, the American Department of Energy announced the Freedom Prize, which will channel more than $4m to encourage efforts to reduce American dependence on foreign oil and enhance national security.

A well designed prize that captures the imagination can inspire the kinds of efforts that lead to radical and sudden breakthroughs, largely because those pursuing the prize will collectively devote far more time, attention and money than is actually on offer. The glamour and prestige of winning also inspires dedication. And prizes that are open to all can inspire solutions that are hard to find in industry.

NASA, America’s space agency, is running a series of innovation contests, one of which asked competitors to design a new space glove. One of the winners, an engineer from a small town in Maine, took home $200,000 for a new design based on a kitchen glove. The keys to providing clean renewable energy and stabilising the earth’s climate won’t always be found in a kitchen drawer. But everyone is invited to take a look, just in case.

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