The richest man in the world has been formally invited to see the Carbon Capture Facility at Boundary Dam. The City of Estevan is hoping to get the attention of Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla, Space X, and other innovation leading businesses. And it all started with a Tweet. 

Musk said on Twitter earlier this year that he and his team were offering $100 million (U.S.) in prizes in a four-year carbon capture competition. The grand prize winner will take home $50 million of that. Naturally, the City of Estevan wanted to show off the carbon capture technology they were already using. 

"As soon as we caught wind of it, of course, we were running full speed not only with Twitter but with other means of media," said Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig, "to get through our message that we are putting our best foot forward to be chosen."

In addition to a social media push, Ludwig has also written and sent a letter inviting Musk to the city that details the technology that is in use at the CCS facility. The hope from the city is that the community will get behind this as well and try to persuade the world's richest man (whose net worth is estimated at $197 billion) to come to the southeast and see the carbon capture facility for himself. 

"We'd like to welcome him to our city," Ludwig said. "I think he already has some family connections to Saskatchewan, so I don't think that would hurt. Then we want to give him a tour of Boundary Dam and show him how well Unit 3 in working and the fact that it is a success story and clean coal does have a future environmentally."

The monetary aspect of winning the contest is obvious, but for the city, there's another element as well: national and international attention. A stamp of approval from someone of Musk's reputation could go a long way toward boosting the image of Estevan's energy production.

"It would be fantastic and it would really showcase our clean coal technology," said Ludwig. "It would put us on the map. It would give us the publicity we need." 

The city explained in a release that the Carbon Capture Facility is attached to the retrofitted 120 megawatt Power Unit 3 at Boundary Dam. It captures the carbon dioxide (CO2) instead of it being released into the atmosphere. This reduces carbon emissions from the coal-fired power unit while producing a reliable, clean source of energy. The Carbon Capture Facility is capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to one million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year (equivalent to taking 250,000 cars off the road).