EnviroBoard
The Problem
Climate change and air pollution. Climate change is changing almost every sector's approach towards transitioning towards a green economy. With carbon dioxide emissions reaching their highest values the past year, humanity is struggling to find a solution. During the last century, humans have been busy. We’ve laid 3.5 million kilometers of pipeline, built 4 million miles of high-voltage transmission lines and created a fossil-fuel based global energy system with a throughput of 14 trillion watts of power. With the particulate matter content of the air reaching five times the permissible limit in developing countries like India, hundreds of millions of people, if not billions, are breathing air that is extremely unsafe. Apart from its detrimental health effects, air pollution has a negative effect on the ecosystem and affects almost every natural process and system. Moreover, according to the World Health Organization, 92% of the world's population lives in places where air pollution exceeds safe limits. We need to act now.
Our Proposal
The Enviroboard - an air-purifying billboard - is a carbon dioxide scrubber for urban environments. From the outside, the Enviroboard looks like a regular advertisement billboard that you may happen to see while driving on a highway. On the inside, the Enviroboard houses a carbon dioxide scrubbing system that continuously filters carbon dioxide and other harmful particulate matter from the air. What's more, as the Enviroboard is transformed into a common object, it's easy to fit and operate in metropolitan cities and urban environments - areas that need a solution like this the most. The air is pulled through one side of the billboard using three co-rotating turbines. Once within the chamber, a commonly available alkali - sodium hydroxide - is used to capture the carbon dioxide. In addition, large particulate matter is subject to electrostatic precipitation. The carbon dioxide is then separated from the sodium bicarbonate formed and pressurized to form pellets. These pellets may then be used by industries or industrial processes that need carbon dioxide (such as greenhouses, soda-bottling companies, etc). The Enviroboard is a simple, affordable, and revolutionary solution to tackle air pollution - a very important problem that needs to be placed at the vanguard of innovation efforts. The cost of operation is borne by local communities, and further revenue is generated by advertisements.
We Assume that...
we will be able to develop a compact pressurization chamber to store the carbon dioxide in the form of pellets
we will have a number of industrial buyers for the pellets
we will be able to acquire land and space for the billboards
we will be able to source materials in a resource constained environment
Constraints to Overcome
The first and foremost problem to tackling air pollution in developing countries like India is a lack of consumer understanding and knowledge. As 67% of India's population is rural, very few people actually recognize the importance of sustainability and awareness about climate change and air pollution. Secondly, positioning carbon capture and storage systems in urban environments has not been explored due to the unappealing looks of industrial purification systems. We need a solution that silently does its work without disrupting the urban landscape. In other words, we need a solution that doesn't stand out, is easily integrated, and yet, spreads the message. Thirdly, laissez-faire governments do not enforce strict environmental regulations. With the global impetus towards sustainable development, this is changing, and we wish to be a frontrunner in the urban market.
Current Work
2 months - building a prototype to serve as a proof of concept. While our extended team also has mechanical engineers and control system designers, we will need to look out for individuals with experience in manufacturing and installation. 2 months - pilot in Delhi with robust air quality monitoring and measurements 2 months - reaching out to organizations that may want to fund the project through CSR initiatives 3 months - inventory and capacity building
Current Needs
Technical experience - the team needs one member with experience in manufacturing and supply chain Funding - while our simulations of the operation and potential benefits of the product are rather compelling, we will definitely need Conservation X Lab's support to make our first prototype Outreach and public relations - the financial sustainability of the project are guaranteed through CSR initiatives and revenue from advertisements. Moreover, local governments have already shown interest if the idea is implemented. We will require a dedicated PR and outreach strategy after the proof-of-concept phase.