On the 30th of July, the Global Warming Mitigation Project (GWMP) revealed the winners of the 2021 round of the Keeling Curve Prize (KCP), celebrating the positive work undertaken around the world to address the climate crisis. This year’s honorees were recognised for innovations such as grid-scale energy storage, a low-cost e-bike conversion device, measures to elevate seaweed farming, new methods for making clean energy accessible in energy poor locations, and several other initiatives creating the next generation of climate and environmental solutions.
Each year, the Keeling Curve Prize awards $25,000 to each of the 10 selected projects from across the globe with significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or promote carbon uptake. The 2021 prize attracted nearly 400 applications from 71 countries, the greatest number of applicants from the broadest geographic range in the prize’s four-year history.
“We started the Keeling Curve Prize to bend the Keeling Curve back to a safe level of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which some scientists say is a maximum of 350 parts per million. By finding and funding these amazing climate solutions around the world, we are lighting up the landscape of climate solutions, guiding us toward that goal.” said Jaqueline Francis, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Global Warming Mitigation Project.
KCP winners are selected from a field of 20 finalists, identified through a rigorous screening process conducted by the program’s impressive team of analysts. KCP judges – including Kara Hurst, Amazon’s VP of worldwide sustainability; Kevin Auerbacher, Managing Counsel at Tesla; and Edward Mungai, CEO of the Kenya Climate Innovation Center – chose the 2021 KCP laureates.
BASE was selected for its Cooling as a Service (CaaS) initiative, a game-changing solution in the field of finance that helps unlock and channel new investments to accelerate the clean energy transition in the cooling sector. Accordingly, the CaaS business model seeks to mainstream servitisation to make modern, high-quality, and sustainable cooling appliances accessible and affordable for all in emerging economies in the face of a warming planet. By connecting technology providers that own, operate, and maintain the cooling systems with customers that make payments based on metered usage, servitisation promotes end-user energy efficiency – an actionable lever with the potential to reduce up to 35% of the cumulative CO2 savings through 2050 required to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.
“BASE’s Cooling as a Service (CaaS) initiative is honoured to be included in the GWMP prestigious list of organisations and solutions with a proven track record of curbing greenhouse gas emissions. We are very pleased and excited about this recognition which will allow us to further expand and scale up the development and implementation of innovative business models and financing mechanisms that are capable of driving investments to sustainable energy and climate change solutions.” shares Daniel Magallon, Managing Director at BASE.
2021 Keeling Curve Prize Laureates
- Oceans 2050 taps the restorative benefits of seaweed farming to improve the health of our oceans. Their Seaweed Carbon Farming Project quantifies the sequestration of macroalgal carbon below seaweed farms to create a new blue carbon market.
- Agora Energy is developing a revolutionary metal-free, high-energy density, cost-effective and carbon-negative battery for grid-scale applications that stores renewable energy by utilising carbon dioxide.
- Ignite Power is providing a solar home development in Sub-Saharan Africa. They are bridging infrastructure gaps and providing basic services such as internet access, electricity, and healthcare to lead Africa into a more sustainable, inclusive future.
- Village Infrastructure Angels invests in poverty-alleviating infrastructure for rural villages in developing countries. This includes helping one billion people gain access to clean electricity, access agricultural machinery, and develop solar water pumps.
- BASE is providing financial instruments that enable clean cooling by overcoming key market barriers to the uptake of energy-efficient equipment through the CaaS (Cooling as a Service) initiative.
- Energise Africa is a sustainable and ethical investment platform that allows everyday investors to support small solar businesses that operate throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Educated Choices Program educates students across America about the impacts of their food choices, inspiring them to make decisions that are consistent with their own values as related to human health, the environment, and animals.
- Solar Cookers International is improving human and environmental health by supporting the expansion of effective carbon-free solar cooking in world regions of greatest need.
- CLIP.bike has developed CLIP, a portable consumer device designed to instantly upgrade any bike to a pedal-assist e-bike at a fraction of the cost of a traditional e-bike.
- Solar E-Cycles Kenya provides affordable solar-powered mobility and power for homes or small businesses in Africa. With open-source, pay-as-you-go financing, their model allows for effective transition to sustainable forms of mobility.
About the Keeling Curve Prize
The Keeling Curve Prize awards $250,000 annually to projects that display proven carbon uptake, drawdown, or sequestration efforts. The prize is a program of the Global Warming Mitigation Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is identifying, activating, and accelerating projects and programs worldwide that are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon uptake. This includes direct funding of vetted organizations, enhancing networking and promotional efforts, identifying ways to unleash funding opportunities for climate solutions, and supporting climate justice.
