IIT Bombay team bags $250,000 grant from Elon Musk foundation

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay faculty and students have been awarded a $250,000 grant to develop a tri-modular technology for large-scale carbon dioxide removal from emission sources and conversion to salts. The XPRIZE Foundation, a branch of the Elon Musk Foundation, presented the money to students at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow. The student team consists of Srinath Iyer, Anwesha Banerjee, Srishti Bhamare, and Shubham Kumar.

According to an official announcement from the XPRIZE Foundation, the IIT Bombay students' team is one of 23 student-led teams that have won the $5 M' Carbon Removal Student Competition'. According to the foundation, grants of $250,000 each have been offered to several teams fighting for money for their early-stage carbon removal projects.

According to the foundation, the winning teams can use this award to compete in future rounds of the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition. The selected team can also utilise the money to develop critical carbon dioxide removal technologies. SASIITB, which represented India in the competition, was awarded the money for developing a tri-modular technology for large-scale carbon dioxide removal. Iyer, a team member, said carbon dioxide emissions from biomass-based power plants and other businesses might be absorbed using various solutes or solvents. 

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According to the media, Iyer stated that the mineral carbonates produced by the IAMR process might be used as alternative materials. It will also contribute to the reduction of indirect carbon dioxide emissions, he claimed. The management of carbon dioxide waste created by various sectors continues to be a major issue worldwide.
On November 11, the XPRIZE Foundation revealed the funds to the winning teams at the Sustainable Innovation Forum at COP-26 in Glasgow.