XPRIZE Carbon Removal

Laura founded Básico in the fall of 2021 as a research team in the running for the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition. During the 6 month Student Competition (April -October '21), Laura conducted preliminary literature research on ocean alkalinity enhancement, and formalized the topic of her proposal. In August, she held a virtual information session in which she recruited a faculty member sponsor and team members to join the project. The team (then called the ACIDD (Accelerated Carbonate Ion Dissolution and Dispersal) Project), partnered with carbon removal supplier Planetary to form a mutual partnership wherein Básico offered third party scientific support and proof-of-concept research. This joint proposal resulted in a $100k award for Básico to perform the proposed experiments and a $1M award for Planetary to continue in the competition and demonstrate their technology in the upcoming Grand Finale round (April 2025).