Wow... That's the lamest presentations I've seen in a long time...

VirreVojj

@thedarkhorse: Let's just convert all those plants from a carbon sink to something that creates carbon. That's a brilliant idea.

ceilingFANBOY

how about ' The Transporter Xprize ' First one to beam something across a distance wins.

chrispie

The ideas are good, but is it just me, or do these guys have no taste in making videos?

Migo

@thedarkhorse: How does a big fire help w/global warming? Unless you plan on focusing that energy and move our orbit.

Git Em SteveDave loves this guy->★

I vote for the Capacitor Challenge

Cole.Mitguard

I have an idea, lets throw all our crops in a big pile and burn them, use the heat to create energy.
people might be a bit hungry though.

thedarkhorse

So,

#1: Invent a useful, world changing technology
#2: Not possible without inventing several world changing 'future technologies' and will probably result in more useless vapor-ware designs that rely on unrealized efficiencies. Any actual successful design will be to expensive for anyone but the uber-rich to afford.
#3: Bribe people to temporarily change their way of life.

Wow, hard choice.

Gann

@chrispie: I second this!

easy2panic

@Migo: If you think that's bad, check out HP video on server blades. *shudder*

ripfire

@chrispie: Too bad, Willy Wonka already won this prize.

Lite

The presentations were rough, I think I would vote for the fist one.

fromagesfondus

@thedarkhorse: We tried that. It's called ethanol.

Comrade GadgetPlay, Fellow Traveler

When I saw the the part with the school district, the hot teacher, and the blank prize heading I thought, "Hmm get to sleep with your elementary school teacher, or save the planet?" Screw the planet, let's screw the teacher! HAHAHAHA

shenanigans

Batteries leech electrolytes. Batteries leech what plants crave.

Cross-eyedCyclops

The Capacitor Challenge is the only real challenge which I could see going a head. Not to mention if it worked and could be mass produced it would change the developed and developing world.

The Energy Independence X PRIZE doesn't require development. They have the technology now to build the house he's talking about and they DO. I've even heard of whole communities which are energy independent. So I guess the only rule he has which might be relevant is #2 (to make it economically feasible.) This is pretty relative though and economics very across the US.

Energy X-Prize: Reduce Home Energy Usage. LAME. No real development. No real world impact because no one will care. You're going to be hard pressed to find whole communities who actually care enough right now to go through with this plan. Not to mention the huge cost of metering the use and reduction per household. The accounting alone for this would be a staggering. Maybe... Maybe whole cities could be pressed to reduce the energy used in infrastructure. The winner gets the $10 million. Most major cities already do this already though on their own for cost savings. Small cities may benefit from it but again the contest is to develop the edge of human technological advancement not to hold a contest as to who can do something the best or most.

RyaninCalgary

@Cross-eyedCyclops: So we should dump all our batteries into crop fields? Yea, exactly, there's no way a harmful amount of toxins wouldn't build up in the plants we later harvest and eat!

Nickolai_the_Russian_guy

Stra@shenanigans:

Second

Super_Moose

The GM bailout is the ultimate green tech investment. Oooobs said so.

heroineworshipper

maybe it's just me, but i wanted to punch all of the presenters.

oh yeah, and f**k cfl's

godwhacker

The capacitor challenge is the most fitting for the X-prize contest, inventing something that will truly have a global impact.

The Energy Independence X-prize can already be achieved with existing technology and has been featured multiple times on the various channels in the Discovery Channel Network.

The Energy X-Prize: reduce home energy usage seems to be more of a challenge of organization rather than technological jumps that the X-Prize is usually about.

I would vote for the Capacitor challenge because it molds well with what I think the X-Prize is all about. Though I would love to believe that communities would be able to come together and pull off the Energy X-Price, but I really doubt the willingness of the general public to follow through on something like this, if its not government sponsored.

The Energy X-Prize should be a Government sponsored challenge. To be part of the challenge each zip code will be issued a special election with only one ballot measure: Do you want your Zip Code to be entered into the "Energy Reduction" challenge? (yes) (no). Those Zips that pass the measure would have their daily energy usage would be measured as an average over the past month then measured again 1 year later. The winning city should get reimbursed for their investment with a tax exemption for that year. It could turn into a running contest with yearly ballot measures across the country, the Zip who won last year is barred from winning the next.

inovak

@VirreVojj: Alan disagrees. Thanks. See ya!

grawss

How about cannibalism. Lot's of food around and would result in a dramatic reduction in our environmental footprint.

Discofunk

Most feasible one is the last one.

Battery challenge is something people have been trying for a long time.
It's difficult enough without the "musts" they proposed.

The second one is just about the same. There are lots of people studying ways of making energy independent homes.
They are not only useful to save energy consumption from plants, it's also a must on places where energy grids don't reach.

Making it cheap and clean is very difficult.

The last one is interesting, but it's still problematic. Because when it involves prizes and money, people will do anything to achieve it.
Corruption, bribery and other stuff comes to mind.
Still, some good things may come from it.

Those presentations were like standard cliparts on a powerpoint.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@Cole.Mitguard: Yah, it is the only idea that has a) not already been done, b) is not already being done, c) would have the greatest impact, d) is limited enough in focus that it can be pushed forward, and e) is measureable, has solid, doable goals. Albiet, I would be tempted to drop the standards a little bit.

maztec

Why not just smite down upon our enemies and process their bodies into a cheap and robust fuel source. Soylent Petrol!

Kaiser-Machead's Cookie-Powered LEGO Machine