/EINPresswire.com/ -- XPRIZE and Enviro Innovate Corporation today announced a new partnership in support of teams competing for the $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, a global competition to develop breakthrough technologies that convert the most CO2 into one or more products with the highest net value. The partnership will see the formation of a first-of-its-kind International CO2 Capture and Conversion Research, Development and Commercialization Centre, spearheaded by Enviro Innovate Corporation in collaboration with the Carbon XPRIZE. A host of academic and industry collaborators in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, will also be involved, including Queen's University, DuPont and GreenCentre Canada.

This partnership welcomes Carbon XPRIZE teams to utilize Enviro Innovate's carbon capture technologies and its collaboration partners who have deep research strength and excellence in clean-tech, energy and sustainable technology development. Additionally, state-of-the-art facilities and expertise at Queen's University's Innovation Park, a clean-tech accelerator, will be available to the benefit of all Carbon XPRIZE participants as teams develop their CO2 conversion technologies. The partnership will also work with the Kingston region clean-tech cluster, which includes several multi-nationals, small to medium-sized enterprises, startups and not-for-profit groups, all of which encompass drivers, providers, enablers and consumers of clean-tech.

"The partnership between Enviro Innovate and XPRIZE is a critical opportunity to seed radical innovations that will tackle the grand challenge of CO2 emissions," said Paul Bunje, principal and senior scientist for XPRIZE's Energy and Environment Group. "Competing in an XPRIZE competition is a massive challenge. Innovating to create radical new technology that can change the world, as the competitors in the Carbon XPRIZE do, is even more impressive. Partners such as Enviro Innovate and the innovation ecosystem throughout Kingston not only provide the world-class expertise and facilities needed to prototype, test, and iterate, but also serve as an innovation hub for impact long into the future."

"The vision driving this collaborative partnership, and the resulting access to state-of-the-art CO2 capture technologies, permanently-housed in the Kingston area, is to provide XPRIZE with a platform and venue to support the Carbon XPRIZE and its applicant CO2 conversion technologies, throughout the XPRIZE competition process," says Tom Thompson, Chairman and CEO; Enviro Innovate Corporation. "This activity will see the region host as many as 30 CO2 conversion technology companies, as they cultivate their ideas, identify and transform these important technological discoveries, and propel these innovations into the marketplace."

Thompson continues, "Taking a longer term view, our partners envision a continuing international centre for carbon capture and carbon conversion research, development and commercialization after the XPRIZE competition, which will incentivize the development of new and emerging CO2 conversion technologies, accelerating them from laboratory testing to demonstration under real-world conditions, and ultimately to world-leading businesses."

"This collaboration is an excellent example of leveraging opportunities that contribute to our research and the regional economy, while providing training and career opportunities for our students, and enabling our researchers and students to make meaningful contributions to Canada and the world," says Dr. Steven Liss, Vice-Principal (Research), Queen's University. "We are delighted to be working with both Enviro Innovate and XPRIZE on this exciting initiative. Participants will be able to tap into the extensive expertise of Queen's researchers, and we look forward to the prospects and opportunities that this new collaboration holds."

About the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE

Founded in 1995, XPRIZE is the leading organization solving the world's Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, incentivized prizes in five areas: Learning; Exploration; Energy & Environment; Global Development; and Life Sciences. The $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, launched in September 2015, is a global competition to address climate change by converting CO2 emissions from power plants and industrial facilities. Innovators from around the world will compete to develop breakthrough technologies that will convert CO2 emissions into valuable products like building materials, alternative fuels, and other items that we use every day. For more information, visit carbon.xprize.org. Other active prizes include the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $10M Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, the $7M Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE and the $5M IBM Watson A.I. XPRIZE. For more information, visit www.xprize.org.

About Enviro Innovate

Enviro Innovate spearheads a clean-tech accelerator at Innovation Park, located at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. The initiative is attracting startups and established enterprises looking to commercialize or acquire innovative technologies. This accelerator focuses on the commercialization of promising, innovative clean technologies introduced from Enviro Innovate's international network, and those developed with support from Queen's University and other parties in this South Eastern Ontario based innovation ecosystem, such as GreenCentre Canada (GCC), a Centre for Excellence in Commercialization and Research (CECR). From the perspective of Enviro Innovate, clean-tech includes recycling, renewable energy, green transportation, advanced materials, green chemistry, and water solutions. As importantly, it also includes energy efficiency and the reduction of GHG emissions.

About Queen's University

Queen's distinguishes itself as one of the leading research-intensive institutions in Canada. The mission is to advance research excellence, leadership and innovation, as well as enhance Queen's impact at a national and international level. Through undertaking leading-edge research, Queen's is addressing many of the world's greatest challenges, and developing innovative ideas and technological advances brought about by discoveries in a variety of disciplines. Queen's University is a member of the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities.

XPRIZE
Eric Desatnik / Jackie Wei
310-741-4880
eric@xprize.org
jackie.wei@xprize.org
Enviro Innovate
John Tarvardian
513-225-8701
media@enviroinnovate.com
Queens University
Anne Craig
613-533-2877
anne.craig@queensu.ca