The Freedom Prize is a new competition offering more than $4 million for efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on oil. This prize is offered by the Freedom Prize Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. This prize follows on the heels of others offered by the DOE.

The $4 million in prize money will be broken into prizes of $500,000 to $1 million for five broad categories: military, industry, schools, government and community. Guidelines have not been finalized, but the Freedom Prize Foundation plans to announce both the application process and guidelines this fall. The first prizes will be awarded in 2009. Competitors are asked to check with the foundation’s website regularly for further developments.

The foundation was co-founded by Jack Hidary and Josh Becker. The foundation is also aided in its endeavors by an advisory council, whose members include Peter Diamandis, the CEO of the X Prize Foundation. The X Prize Foundation operates in a similar manner, offering prizes for technological advances. However, the X Prize relies on private donors to fund its prizes. The X Prize has already paid out a $10 million prize for a private space craft and is currently offering an Automotive X Prize that will award $0 million for a production-capable vehicle that can exceed 100 miles per gallon.

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