Semi-Finalists Announced: US$1 Million Ocean Innovation Prize

IOC-UNESCO

Semi-Finalists Announced: US$1 Million Ocean Innovation Prize

Semi-Finalists Announced: US$1 Million Ocean Innovation Prize 602 338 Ocean Decade

The Blue Climate Initiative (BCI) announced today the 21 semi-finalists for the US$1 Million Ocean Innovation Prize. As an endorsed programme of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (‘the Ocean Decade’), the Blue Climate Initiative is hosting the Ocean Innovation Prize together with the Sustainable Ocean Alliance in the framework of the Ocean Decade.

These semi-finalists are advancing creative, innovative approaches to help us find a way out of the climate crisis. Coming from all corners of the globe, their projects include clean energy and desalination from sea waves and solar technologies; kelp forest restoration and seaweed innovations such as for bioplastics and methane-reducing livestock feed supplements; carbon dioxide removal such as through gasification of algae biomass, electrochemistry and alkalinity enhancement; and many more.

The BCI received 236 applications from over 60 countries. The semi-finalists were selected by a global group of 18 Expert Evaluators for their impact potential, innovation, commercial and scale potential, capacity and feasibility, alignment with Prize principles, and the value of Prize support.

“We congratulate the semi-finalists and are thrilled to draw attention to these important and timely innovations to address our climate crisis, using the power of the ocean,” said Stanley Rowland, CEO of the Blue Climate Initiative. “As the current COP26 discussions emphasize, bold action on climate solutions has never been more urgent.”

The goal of the Ocean Innovation Prize is to identify and accelerate market-based ocean-related solutions to our climate crisis in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, and drawing insights from the Blue Climate Initiative’s Transformational Opportunities. The semi-finalists will be supported with publicity, match-making with experts and investors, and mentoring. A High-Level Judges panel will select a final set of winners, to be announced in early 2022, who will share the US$1 Million cash prize and be featured at the Blue Climate Summit in May 2022 in French Polynesia.

Detailed information on the Ocean Innovation Prize can be found at: https://www.blueclimateinitiative.org/ocean-innovation-prize.

The Ocean Innovation Prize semi-finalists are as follows; they are delighted to be contacted and profiled:

  1. Airglide – Air lubrication systems to reduce global shipping pollution, USA & Bahamas John Dixon P.E., Principal Investigator. email: jdixon@airglide.expertwww.airglide.expert
  2. Climate Foundation Marine Permaculture – SeaForestation with deepwater irrigation, Australasia Dr. Brian von Herzen, Executive Director. email: info@climatefoundation.orghttps://www.climatefoundation.org/
  3. CorPower Ocean – Clean Energy from ocean waves, Sweden Patrik Möller, co-founder & CEO, email: patrik.moller@corpowerocean.comhttps://www.corpowerocean.com/
  4. Cquestr8 – Large-scale carbon dioxide removal through accelerated weathering of limestone, Malaysia Steve Willis, Director. email: steve.willis@cquestr8.comhttps://cquestr8.com/
  5. Cubex Global – Decarbonizing maritime freight using space optimization technology, U.A.E Sheikh Ahsan Tariq, Chief Executive Officer. email: ahsan@cubex.globalhttps://cubex.global
  6. Desolenator – Solar-powered desalination technology, Netherlands Louis Bleach, Head of Impact. email: louise@desolenator.com;
    https://www.desolenator.com/
  7. E-Wave Technologies – Wave energy for ocean aquaculture, USA Adam Bennett, Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer. email: abennett@ewavetechnol.comwww.ewavetech.com
  8. Ebb Carbon – Electrochemical ocean deacidification and atmospheric CO2 capture, USA Dr. Matthew Eisaman, co-founder and CTO. email: apps@ebbcarbon.comhttps://ebbcarbon.com/
  9. Eco Wave Power – Clean electricity from ocean and sea waves, Israel Inna Braverman, Founder & CEO. email: inna@ecowavepower.comhttps://www.ecowavepower.com/
  10. Loliware – Seaweed-derived, emissions-avoiding alternatives to plastic, USA Karuna Rana, Head of Climate, Impact and Policy. email: karuna@loliware.comwww.loliware.com/
  11. Oceans 2050 – Global Seaweed Project: Blue Carbon, USA Fritz Neumeyer , Director, Oceans 2050 Foundation. email: contact@oceans2050.comwww.oceans2050.com
  12. Oneka Technologies – Wave-powered sustainable desalination, Canada Dragan Tutic, CEO. email: info@onekawater.com;
    Onekawater.com
  13. Planetary Hydrogen – Ocean carbon dioxide removal through alkalinity and hydrogen production, Canada Jason Vallis, Director of External Relations. email: jason@planetaryhydrogen.comwww.planetaryhydrogen.com
  14. Project Vesta – Coastal resilience and carbon capture with olivine sand, USA Kelly Erhart – Director of Business Development. email: kelly@projectvesta.orghttps://www.projectvesta.org/
  15. Seaweedtama Biopac Indonesia – Seaweed-based solution for a plastic-free ocean, Indonesia Dr. Noryawati Mulyono S.Si., Cofounder. email: nory@biopac.idwww.biopac.id
  16. SMO Solar Process – Carbon capture and energy from sargassum, Guadeloupe Dr. Nicolas Ugolin, Founder and lead scientist. email: n.ugolin@smosolarprocess.com;   www.smosolarprocess.com
  17. Sway – Seaweed-based replacements for single-use plastic, USA Julia Marsh: Co-Founder & CEO. email: info@swaythefuture.com;
    https://swaythefuture.com/
  18. Swimsol SolarSea – World’s first ocean floating solar system, Maldives Thomas Siebenbrunner, Head of Sales & Marketing. email: thomas@swimsol.comwww.swimsol.com
  19. Symbrosia – Seaweed feed supplements reducing livestock methane emissions by 90%, USA Alexia Akbay, Founder & CEO. email: alexia@symbrosia.cohttps://symbrosia.co/
  20. Tēnaka – Restoring blue carbon habitats for a regenerative economy, France Anne Sophie Roux, Founder & CEO. email: annesophie@tenaka.orghttps://tenaka.org/
  21. Urchinomics – Global kelp restoration through restorative sea urchin aquaculture, Norway Brian Tsuyoshi Takeda, Founder and CEO. email: btt@urchinomics.comhttps://www.urchinomics.com/

Blue Climate Initiative (BCI)

The Blue Climate Initiative (BCI) is a global initiative bringing together scientists, community groups, entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, influencers, and others to protect the ocean and accelerate ocean-related strategies to address the climate crisis and other pressing environmental issues. The fiscal sponsor for the BCI is Tetiaroa Society. For more information about the BCI visit www.blueclimateinitiative.org. Questions can be directed to Jeanne Everett at jeanne@blueclimateinitiative.org.

United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

Proclaimed in 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) (‘the Ocean Decade’) seeks to stimulate ocean science and knowledge generation to reverse the decline of the state of the ocean system and catalyse new opportunities for sustainable development of this massive marine ecosystem. The vision of the Ocean Decade is ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’. The Ocean Decade provides a convening framework for scientists and stakeholders from diverse sectors to develop the scientific knowledge and the partnerships needed to accelerate and harness advances in ocean science to achieve a better understanding of the ocean system, and deliver science-based solutions to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The UN General Assembly mandated UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to coordinate the preparations and implementation of the Decade.

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