The X Prize and the Market for Invention

Inspired by last year’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico (more commonly known as the BP Oil Spill), the competition challenged teams to devise a new, more efficient, easily deployable method to capture crude oil from ocean water. With $1.4 million in prizes on the line, the contest eschewed the idea of incremental progress and set bold targets for new industry standards. 

The results were nothing short of astounding. 

In 1989, the crews responsible for cleaning up the Exxon Valdez disaster recovered less than 15% of the total oil spilled. More than 20 years later, the teams that worked on Deep Water Horizon didn’t fare much better. The X Prize winning team from Elastec/American Marine invented a new technique to recover a remarkable 89.5% of oil spilled in the testing ground, and at a rate more than four times faster than the current industry standard. It’s an achievement akin to breaking the land speed record in a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon. 

Perhaps even more inspiring is that of the 350 initial entrants, seven teams exceeded the industry’s previous best oil recovery rate in controlled conditions. Some, like Elastec/American Marine, were global industry leaders in the field of oil recovery. But there was also a team led by a retired mechanical engineer, and another made up of fishing industry veterans who have felt the impact of oil disasters first-hand.

The EPA estimates that there are nearly 20,000 oil spills per year globally, with hundreds of millions of dollars spent annually to recover oil using archaic methods. Think of the impact this $1.4 million prize will have. The X Prize is a forum where true invention is having a real impact on people’s lives, and these remarkable results demonstrate that as we look for solutions to the great challenges of the 21st century, the market for invention will be perhaps our greatest resource. 

Competition, whether for a cash prize or market share, drives participation and solutions, and in this case the results will have a tangible impact on people’s lives. This is a foundational belief of the work we do at Intellectual Ventures. Today’s market is the most amazing platform for invention in history, and we’re working with our network of inventors around the world to seize that opportunity and find big solutions to big problems. After seeing the inspiring work of the X Prize Foundation, I’ve never been more certain that we can make that goal a reality.