The Mayor of Estevan is inviting Elon Musk to come tour the city’s Carbon Capture Facility (CCS).
The invitation comes after the Tesla CEO tweeted that he would be awarding $100 million to communities with the best technology.
Am donating $100M towards a prize for best carbon capture technology
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 21, 2021
Mayor Roy Ludwig says he welcomes the possibility to show the city’s state of the art facility to one of the world’s greatest minds.
“It’s been very successful, and it’s the only one of it’s kind in Canada that uses coal as a source,” said Ludwig. “So we look at this as environmentally friendly way to produce power using clean coal technology, CCS, carbon sequestration that works.”
The CCS, connected to the Boundary Dam, captures carbon equivalent to 250,000 vehicles every year, and stores it underground, cutting down on emissions.
Musk’s XPRIZE Contest will take place over 18 months, with 15 facilities being selected, receiving $1 million each, with the grand prize winner taking home $50 million.
Ludwig says if Estevan was lucky enough to win the money, it would go towards building another CCS in the area.
“The bottom line of where we’re coming from, is jobs,” said Ludwig. “These are well-paying jobs at the coal mine, they’re well-paying jobs at SaskPower, it stimulates the economy, they spend the money they make, it’s good for the local economy, along with the province and the federal government. So, it’s a total win-win.”
Ludwig says even if they don’t win any money, a visit from the tech mogul would have a huge impact on the city.
“It would give us the publicity to help move this forward, and continue to have well-paying jobs in our community, and I think it would probably mean that much, that we would get that much publicity, that it would showcase the technology that we have and the fact that it works,” said Ludwig. “I think it would allow us to continue down that road.”
Musk has Saskatchewan roots, as his mother was born in the province.
In the letter to Musk, Ludwig said Estevan would love to welcome him back to the 306, hook him up with a new bunny hug, a Riders hat, and show him why Saskatchewan is the place to invest.