IIT-M announces top 30 teams of Carbon Zero Challenge 2022

CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) announced the top 30 teams of the Carbon Zero Challenge (CZC) 2022, an all-India eco-innovation and entrepreneurship competition.

These teams will undergo six months of training at the Institute on building prototypes of environment-friendly technologies, identifying customers, and sustainability, and developing a viable business model for the commercialization of their innovations, a release from the institution said.

The CZC 2022 aims to support young minds to innovate and create start-ups in the environment domain to solve major challenges with respect to five natural resources water, energy, air, soil, and materials/solid waste. The previous editions of the competition have supported 50 teams in the last two rounds and many have become successful start-ups.

The competition received 750 registrations across India in five thematic areas out of which 30 were shortlisted. After their six-month training, the top five teams will be declared CZC 2022 winners and will get Rs. 10 lahks as a start-up seed grant and continued support from IIT Madras such as access to IITM incubation resources and Angel and VC funding.

Gagandeep Singh Bedi IAS, Commissioner, Chennai Corporation, said, "Greenhouse (GHG) Emissions from various cities in the world pegs at 75 to 80 per cent. It mainly comes from vehicle emissions and land refills that create immense GHG. Fire occurs at these landfills due to land waste that emits methane. We all have a duty to GHG Emissions reduction. This Carbon Zero Challenge is something that all of us need to do."

"In the last few years, Greater Chennai Corporation has replaced most of the diesel waste collection vehicles with battery-operated vehicles. At about 5,200 such vehicles, we are among the civic bodies in the country with the largest number of electric vehicles", he added.

He said that the state government has started 175 micro-collecting centres to decentralise waste composting and avoid artificial mountains outside the cities.

"Another important aspect is the establishment of two centres for generating Bio-CNG, which a few other cities have already started producing Bio-CNG from wet waste", he said.