Could a multi-million dollar prize spur the next big innovation in sustainable climate technology? One thing is certain, the Big Science model of grants haven't provided any solution to a climate change concern now in its fourth decade but the future may belong to the past - prizes, which were the default before the last half of the 20th century, instead of government funding.
Jonathan H. Adler, professor and director of the Center for Business Law and Regulation at Case Western Reserve University's School of Law, says that prize-based incentives could work again.