technology competitions, such as the Orteig Prize for flying across the Atlantic, and the Ansari X Prize for spaceflight. Competing technologies The eleven finalists represent five competing technologies, some being represented by multiple finalists. Biochar Biochar, created by pyrolysis of biomass. Pyrolysis is a process where biomass is partially combusted in an oxygen-limited environment, which produces a char rich in carbon. This char can be distributed in soils as a soil amendment. Finalists competing with biochar designs: Biochar Solutions, US Black Carbon, Denmark Circle Biochar, US BECCS (Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage) Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) combines combustion or processing of biomass with geologic carbon capture and storage. BECCS is applied to industries such as electrical power, combined heat and power, pulp and paper, ethanol production, and biogas production. There is 550 000 tonnes /year in total BECCS capacity operating, divided between three different facilities (as of January 2012). BECCS was pointed out in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a key technology for reaching low carbon dioxide atmospheric concentration targets. The negative emissions that can be produced by BECCS has been estimated by the Royal Society to be equivalent to a 50 to 150 ppm decrease in global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and according to the International Energy Agency, the BLUE map climate change mitigation scenario calls for more than 2 gigatonnes of negative CO2 emissions per year with BECCS in 2050. According to the OECD, "Achieving lower concentration targets (450 ppm) depends significantly on the use of BECCS". The sustainable technical potential for net negative emissions with BECCS has been estimated to 10 Gt of equivalent annually, with an economic potential of up to 3.5 Gt of equivalent annually at a cost of less than 50 €/tonne, and up to 3.9 Gt of equivalent annually at a cost of less than 100 €/tonne. Imperial College London, the UK Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the Walker Institute for Climate System Research, and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change issued a joint report on carbon dioxide removal technologies as part of the AVOID: Avoiding dangerous climate change research program, stating that "Overall, of the technologies studied in this report, BECCS has the greatest maturity and there are no major practical barriers to its introduction into today’s energy