By Gaurav Pant*
NEW DELHI | 7June 2024 (IDN) — According to the WHO, pollution globally claims over 7 million lives annually of which more than 2 million are in India. It also has an enormous social and environmental cost, both tangible and intangible, and creates significant challenges for any society to achieve a circular economy and secure the UN SDGs.
However, it can be solved with technology and innovation, and India is amongst the leading countries in the world that is exploring highly efficient, effective, and affordable solutions of global relevance for Carbon Capture.
Based in New Delhi, Aerofy Cleantech is a startup by the IITians, former diplomats and young scientists that has developed and patented technologies to address the very challenge including the technology for the world’s first Self-Powered Carbon Capture device.
As Carbon emissions are made in the form of electricity which is consumed by devices for Carbon Capture, a Self-Powered Carbon Capture process developed by Aerofy Cleantech is being seen as a game-changer. Net Zero energy consumption for Net Zero will make the process cleaner, more affordable, and more sustainable than the existing alternatives.
Its AI and Deep Tech-based solutions not only capture Carbon but also purify the polluted air. As its energy requirements are extremely minimal, these patented solutions are Carbon negative and highly cost-effective.
At present the cost of CO2 capture is exorbitantly high. While other leading DAC startups globally aspire for a cost of $100 per tonne of CO2 capture in the future, Aerofy claims that its patented solutions capture 1 tonne of CO2 at just $10.
Aerofy Cleantech which is a MEITY (Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology), Government of India-funded startup launched its first-of-the-kind pilot project at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi so that both patients and common people can benefit from the latest scientific research and innovation.
A detailed presentation and practical demonstration were made to the AIIMS, New Delhi before Aerofy Cleantech’s Carbon Capture pilot project was inaugurated by Prof. M. Srinivas, Director of the famed institute at the campus on 6 June 2024. The data generated by the pilot project will be shared with AIIMS, New Delhi.
The pilot project
It will also include Aerofy’s patented AI and Machine Learning-based system to predict hyperlocal OPA (Oxidative Potential of Air Pollutants) and ORP (Oxidation Reduction Potential) well in advance.
A team of Aerofy Cleantech comprising B. Ranjan, Chief Scientist, Puneet Mittal, IIT-Delhi, and mentors D. C. Joshi, former Chief of the National Research & Development Corporation (NRDC), Government of India and Manish Uprety FRAS, former diplomat, along with Dr Amitesh Khare of AIIMS, New Delhi who will be part of the research study were also present during the launch.
The pilot project will help collect the vital data, evaluate the results, and make necessary adjustments for effectiveness before commercialization of the highly efficient and affordable product. It is expected that it will help ameliorate the global cost of climate change damage which is estimated to be between $1.7 trillion and $3.1 trillion per year by 2050
Aerofy Cleantech has its own R&D and production center in the NCR. To take its patented technology and innovation abroad, it is also in the process of negotiating and establishing partnerships with leading universities and entities from South & North America, UK, the European Union, and MENA.
Also, Aerofy has commenced exploring modalities and mechanisms to share its innovation and learning with Brazil. After India’s presidency of the G20 last year, Brazil will host the G20 Leaders’ Summit in November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro which will be attended by 19 member countries, plus the African Union and European Union.
When Amanda K. Serumaga, UNDP’s Resident Representative in Mauritius and Seychelles talks about the Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs) which are being used by countries to strengthen financial planning and devise strategies for mobilizing public and private finance towards their sustainable development objectives, it would be worthwhile to explore whether innovations like Aerofy’s to combat climate change could among the initiatives where capital could be channelled into via the national financial planning through INFF processes. UN Climate Head Simon Stiell also underlined the need of a finance deal to address climate action.
It is argued that buying and selling forest carbon as a commodity is fraught with dangers and hence to meet climate targets, especially to quadruple carbon capture by 2050 would indeed be a very challenging task for the international community. So, innovations by startups like Aerofy have a great relevance to meet the challenges.
Realising the immense relevance the Carbon Capture solutions developed by Aerofy Cleantech have for securing UNSDGs and Net Zero especially for the Global South, former co-Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona and Lord Rami Ranger CBE of Mayfair, member of the UK House of Lords also sent their heartiest greetings for the occasion.
*Gaurav Pant is a BSc (Economics) student from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom who is interested in the SDGs and Climate Change, and did his internship with Aerofy Cleantech in 2023. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: (From Left to Right) Manish Uprety FRAS, Dr Amitesh Khare, B. Ranjan & Prof M Srinivas, Director, AIIMS-New Delhi.
