Our Judges Announced!

Hello Faithful Readers,

On this day, one year ago, something unimaginable happened. But, The X PRIZE Foundation is proud to announce that today, we have our final eight judges for our Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE!

We have been working extremely hard to develop this competition, and lay out what the actual test will look like. We have met with experts in oceanography, and in oil to determine the best way to present this, and we are pleased to announce the judges! Please see below an excerpt taken directly from the press release:

"The X PRIZE Foundation today announced its roster of judges for the $1.4 Million Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE. As the one year anniversary (April 20) of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill reminds us of last year’s tragedy, the X CHALLENGE’s goal of inspiring entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists worldwide to develop innovative, rapidly deployable, and highly efficient methods of capturing crude oil from the ocean surface remains more relevant and timely than ever.

“This X CHALLENGE was developed as a result of the increasing awareness and disappointment at the inefficiency of our oil spill cleanup capabilities,” said Wendy Schmidt, President of The Schmidt Family Foundation and title sponsor of the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE. “As we look back on the last year and remember the disaster of the Gulf oil spill, I’m more optimistic than ever that this X CHALLENGE will help inspire new and innovative oil spill technologies that will allow us to respond faster and minimize the environmental impact of any future spills.”

“The Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE has received an overwhelming response since the competition was first announced and we’re amazed by the amount of teams and individuals who have expressed an interest in competing, particularly given the current relevance of oil spill cleanup technologies,” said Francis Beland, Vice President of Prize Development at the X PRIZE Foundation. “Our slate of judges brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience to this competition. We’re honored to have such an elite group of individuals working with us to determine our final group of competitors and to be on-hand to judge the testing at OHMSETT this summer.”

The members of the judging panel are experts in fields such as oceanography and the oil industry, and include:

• John Joe Dec, retired United States Coast Guard hazardous substance spill response professional;
• Eugene Johnson, retired United States Coast Guard Captain and former Chief of Marine Safety for the Fifth U.S. Coast Guard District;
• Hung Nguyen, of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE);
• Skip Przelomski, Vice President and Senior Technical Advisor of the Clean Caribbean & Americas (CCA);
• Dennis Takahashi-Kelso, Executive Vice President of Ocean Conservancy;
• Donald A. Toenshoff, Jr., Executive Vice President of the Marine Spill Response Corporation;
• Peter K. Velez, Global Emergency Response Manager for Shell International Exploration and Production;
• and Dave Westerholm, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Response and Restoration"

To read more about Phases I and II of the competition, click to read the full press release.

Alex at X PRIZE

One Year Later

Hey Everyone!

So, as you probably know, today is the one-year anniversary of the Gulf Oil Spill. One year anniversaries of tragic events tend to bring up a lot of emotions in people. Anger, sadness, confusion, maybe a little shock at how far we have or haven't come. But, I believe that it is most important to focus only on positive things. I don't want to discount the terrible tragedy that happened one year ago, because it was horrible, and the images still stay with me today, but I feel that it will not move me in a direction of healing, and helping, to focus on anything less than positive things.

We can't dwell on something that has already happened, and we have to somehow move on, and try our best to clean up the mess in the Gulf, and fix the situation as best we can. Then, we must move to preventing future problems of the same nature.

What are your thoughts on this day, one year later?

NRDC Blog Article

Hey All,

Today, I came across a great blog post from the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) website, about the oil spill and who is really affected the most by this tragedy. It's written by Peter Lehner, the Executive Director of NRDC, and is definitely worth a read: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/plehner/oil_industry_says_its_the_vict.html.

Yes, everyone has their own opinion about the Gulf spill and the harm it caused, however I do feel that we can all agree on one point: we need to clean up the oil and the mess that was made, and work to prevent future spills by subsequently coming up with innovative and energy efficient ways to live!

More later,
Alex at X PRIZE

OHMSETT

Hey All,

This has been an exciting few weeks for the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE. Last week, some of our staff traveled to OHMSETT, located in Leonardo, NJ, to scout out the location of our $1M competition!

This summer, the semi-finals, and the finals of the competition will take place at OHMSETT's facilities. OHMSETT is the National Oil Spill Response Test Facility, and is actually an acronym for "Oil and Hazardous Material Stimulated Environmental Test Tank." Whew, that's a mouthful!

Our team scouted the testing tank, watched a practice cleanup in wave conditions, and saw some older skimmers used for cleaning up surface oil. Here is a picture of the group on the bridge, above the tank!

We are very excited to see what kinds of new technology our teams will show us this summer!

More later,
Alex at X PRIZE

Deep-Water Drilling Resumes

Last May, in response to the worst off-shore oil spill in the history of the U.S., The Obama Administration suspended all drilling in waters deeper than 5,000ft, in the Gulf of Mexico. After millions of barrels of oil flowed into the ocean from the well, and after a series of failed attempts to stop the flow, the BP Horizon “Macondo” well was finally capped, in late July, 2010. But was it too late? In 86 days, an approximate five million barrels (185 million gallons) of oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, killing animals as big as dolphins and seals, and as small as tiny shrimp. Eleven heroic oil-rig workers that lost their lives in the explosion.

While BP worked frantically to clean up the mess, with the help of numerous environmental organizations, our incentivized competition, and kind volunteers, everyone wondered what this would mean for the oil industry. The halt on deep-water drilling also angered many Gulf coast residents, as they depend on oil drilling for jobs and money. The halt finally ended in October, with some restrictions. The Obama Administration ended the moratorium, saying deep-water drilling could resume, with much tighter rules and regulations.  These rules set higher standards for well design, stricter rules for blowout preventers, more emergency response training, and more safety certifications. BP’s Horizon rig was five years overdue for a 90-day safety inspection when it exploded. In addition to the stricter rules, the same approval process applies to companies drilling-offshore, in addition to obtaining the permit needed to drill. For the complete list of rules, click here. 

All that to say, Monday, March 1, 2011 marked a big day in the oil industry, as the Interior Department approved Noble Energy’s permit to drill 6,500ft deep in the Gulf, the first new permit since the spill in the Gulf last year. Before, permits were almost immediately approved, but now, they will only be approved on a well-by-well basis, making sure that every safety precaution is taken.

Many are angry it has taken almost a year to resume drilling, and six other permits await approval as we speak. However, the current situation in the Gulf is far from over, and the damage to the Gulf and it’s residents will most likely be permanent. What do you think?

Alex at X PRIZE

A Little Bit About Wendy

For those of you who don't know anything about our generous benefactor, Wendy Schmidt, I have listed a few of her many accomplishments and passions. I hope this gives you a better understanding of Wendy, and our competition!

Wendy is: The President of The Schmidt Family Foundation, which strives to advance the development of clean energy and support the wiser use of natural resources.

Wendy is: On the boards of The Natural Resources Defense Council, The California Academy of Sciences, The Nantucket Dreamland Foundation, and of course, The X PRIZE Foundation.

Wendy is: The founder of The Schmidt Family Foundation's 11th Hour Project, and Climate Central.

Wendy is: The donor and full supporter of the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE. Read the press release.

Wendy is: The wife of Google CEO, Eric Schmidt.

We love to see the mark Wendy has left on the lives of others, and on the earth, and thank her for leading by example.

Alex at X PRIZE

Registration Closed!

Hey Readers!

Yes, it's true. I'm about 15 days late in announcing this, but if you follow us on twitter, you can predict my next sentence. Registration for the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X CHALLENGE officially closed on February 15th!

We had literally hundreds of teams, from all over the world preregister for the competition, and I am so completely excited to see the number of teams who will actually be competing!

More to come!
Alex at X PRIZE