What can the petroleum industry do other than turn its product into fuels to burn? In Alberta, the first baby steps include a competition to turn byproducts of its oil sands production into carbon fibre products that can compete with materials such as steel, aluminum, concrete and plastic. The challenge is not just developing a clean process, but also one that makes carbon fibre price competitive. The Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge aims at rewarding a group or individual who can demonstrate the ability to make carbon fibre at less than $9 USD per kilogram or $4 a pound. And from there be able to scale production to drop the price even further.