Using carbon dioxide to make more sustainable and environmentally friendly products is big business and nine Canadian firms are in the final hunt to secure a portion of the $20 million NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize competition.

Three of the 27 semifinalists are from Ontario. Pond Biofuels is producing biodiesel and solid biofuel. Tandem Technical is producing health supplements, toothpaste, paint and fertilizers. CERT is producing formic acid at up to five times lower cost than existing fossil fuel based processes.

To support ongoing development in the semifinals, the Ontario Centres of Excellence is providing $2.5 million to the Ontaria teams.

"Incentivizing our homegrown innovators to create disruptive technologies that convert emissions from industrial facilities and power plants into everyday items is a great step forward in the global fight against climate change,” said Dr. Tom Corr, president and CEO at OCE.

Other Canadian companies to make it to the semifinals include: Carbicrete, Carbon Cure, CO2 Solutions, Carbon Upcycling Technologies, Ingenuity Lab, and Terra CO2 Technologies. 

The Carbon XPrize has a mission to inspire the best and brightest innovators in the world to help solve climate change. The teams whose breakthrough technologies have made the semi-finals will demonstrate ways to convert CO2 emissions from industrial facilities and power plants into new products like building materials, alternative fuels, fish food, fertilizer and even shoes. The competition includes two tracks, with one focused on testing technologies at a coal power plant and the other at a natural gas power plant. One winner from each track will receive $7.5 million USD, and scoring will be based on the amount of CO2 converted plus the net value of the team's products.