A couple of months ago, I wrote about that X PRIZE selecting new contest ideas and out of 133 entries, 3 finalist were chosen. Out of those 3, the Capacitor Challenge was the winner!

They want to revolutionize energy storage with the ultra capacitor. They want inventors to come up with a capacitor that holds energy more effectively, more efficiently, and longer time frames than conventional batteries.

From their video, the winning capacitor will be real, working energy storing device that must:

As proof of utility, the submission should provide enough electricity to drive an electric vehicle for 100 miles, be recharged, and then driven back in order to win the X PRIZE.

Again, congratulations. This will be a fun prize to watch and it will be an awesome technology that will change our future!

What’s amazing about their prizes as well is that you can submit your own idea for a prize. What do you think as impossible? How will it benefit all of mankind? These are the challenges that the X PRIZE Foundation wants to support.

Ken Beitel, a computer systems analyst and documentary film producer, has entered the contest and is proposing that the next X Prize be a $10 billion corporate challenge focusing on renewable energy investment:

First Company or Corporate team to Generate $10 billion in Renewable Energy Investment via Retirement Plans Could be the Winner of a Proposed New X Prize. Adding a renewable energy sector fund to 401(k) retirement plans will: 1)generate a significant number of new jobs 2)create a healthy economy, 3)increase clean energy production, 4)lower energy costs and combat climate change

You can catch a 2 minute video of his idea at The Renewable Energy Initiative which he pitches his project.

I think it’s a great idea for a prize, and we’ll have to see if the X PRIZE Foundation chooses it.

Think you have something better? Submit your proposal to the Foundation by November 18th, 2008 as they will begin judging the entries that have been submitted.