CARDIFF CARBON CAPTURE INNOVATION WINS MAJOR PRIZE

An innovation designed in Cardiff that could transform carbon capture has scooped a prestigious national award.

The Algae Photobioreactor has been designed by Cardiff University students Hajira Irfan, 21, and Harry Parkinson, 20, with support from their professors and other students.

The duo teamed up to win a prize at the university’s Spring StartUp Awards earlier this year, which were part funded by charity EIBF.

And after competing in the EIBF Champion of Champions Competition against their peers from across the UK, they have picked up further silverware and £3,500 worth of prizes.

At the Royal Academy of Engineering in London on 8 November, the duo scooped both the Big Ideas award and the Pre-Show Public vote award.

Recognising the power of algae – a fast-growing organic biomass – has in reducing carbon emissions, their idea is to develop and place solar-powered compact photobioreactors in locations across the country.

They say their devices will help to not only offset carbon emissions but also to purify air – in the same space a normal vending machine may take up.

Hajira said: “”We are so excited for the future of the project now that we have secured £3,500 pounds in funding! It will really help to accelerate our progress.

“Attending the EIBF Champion of Champions allowed us to see all the other amazing ideas coming from UK universities, we were given amazing advice from coaches and it was a fantastic opportunity to network with people interested in our project! The experience we gained was invaluable”

“We’re happy with the prize, but we’re really excited now because we actually get to make the bioreactor. Hopefully if the judges come to Cardiff soon, they’ll be able to see the bioreactor in action and see the work we’ve put in over the last two years.”
She added: “Our planet is experiencing unprecedented levels of CO2 emissions – accelerating global warming and polluting our air, which in turn has a direct effect on our health.

“With the ‘The Algae Photobioreactor’, we plan to utilise the power of algae to help reverse these catastrophic emissions. Algae is much more effective at carbon capture than your average tree and when in ideal conditions – it can be as effective as a small forest.

“The concept of harnessing the power of a forest in the space of a vending machine, placed right in the heart of a city, was too compelling to ignore. We truly believe this idea can change the way we imagine integrating nature into city spaces; the future of our cities is to live in harmony with nature – not against it.”

The team have already had interest from local schools and have been in talks with Cardiff Council about the project.

As part of their prizes, the team will also receive mentoring from business leaders who are members of the Sainsbury Management Fellows network, plus CV packages from PurpleCV and entrepreneurial books from Cambridge University Press and Double your Price, an award-winning book by David Falzani MBE, which covers how pricing works with practical insights, tools and actionable guidance.

The event, hosted by TV presenter and engineer Rob Bell, was the culmination of a year of EIBF-sponsored enterprise competitions held across UK universities, with thousands of undergraduate and graduates taking part.

Each year, EIBF champions business education for engineers and supports universities by giving them grants to award prizes to engineering students who develop ideas that can make a positive impact on society.