The only problem with this is that the optimal solution is a quick and immediate clean up -- any technology or a solution developed now will arrive too late to prevent the likely massive death of ocean life and ensuing repercussions through the food chain.

Sadly, the only way I see this being useful is if someone has a magic solution they've been sitting on and just not using.

Though I'm cynical enough to think that maybe BP will say "oh look, money" and clean it up and collect the prize.

Well I'm not optimistic enough to think that this will be the last oil spoil to ever occur, so even though it may not help with this spill hopefully it would be useful in the future.

BP wouldn't be collecting the prize for money either considering the small fraction of the cost that the prize would be.

What about recovery equipment and techniques engineered, fabricated, and tested before a BOP fails at great depth? (Not while 50,000 barrels a day are spewing into the ocean.)

I say make all petroleum companies pony up some serious cash and form an independent company to research and develop these techniques and maintain the equipment to be ready for such a future event.

X Prize is holding a press conference tomorrow to announce the prize:

http://www.xprize.org/media-center/press-release/x-prize-fou...

There will be a live webcast at 1pm EDT:

http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=71238

Simple, get Venter to create microbes that eat oil and dispersant and reproduce for exactly 16 generations.

(The “simple” is sarcastic for two reasons, one of which being the incredible danger of radically altering the ecosystem.)

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1554351 (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-27/oil-from-bp-spill-i...):

"Oil from BP Plc’s record spill in the Gulf of Mexico is biodegrading quickly ... the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

Oil has been dissipating since BP stopped the flow from its Macondo well off the coast of Louisiana on July 15, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco told reporters yesterday on a conference call. Crude that’s dispersed into the sea is being gobbled up by bacteria, she said."

Oil is to many people's surprise a natural substance and plenty of it naturally leaks into bodies of water like the Gulf so there's a lot of bacteria already evolved to feast on it.

Now this is not entirely good while it's happening since e.g. they consume oxygen to do it, but I gather that fish are smart enough to swim away from low oxygen concentrations.

This is a great idea; this is exactly the type of incentive needed to promote cleanup of the spill.