Takachar, a UBC spin-off company co-founded by CHBE postdoc, Kevin Kung, has won a $1 million Milestone Award in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Competition, funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation.
Dr. Kung, who works as president and chief technical officer of Takachar, and his partner Vidyut Mohan (co-founder and CEO), were previously awarded $250,000 in the Carbon Dioxide Removal Demonstration student category of the XPrize as well as a $£1 million Earthshot Prize in November 2021.
Patented and developed at Takachar, a new portable, small-scale, and low-cost equipment was designed to convert waste biomass into specialized chemicals varying from fertilizer, to solid fuel. This innovative technology would be offered as an alternative to companies or organizations sending waste biomass to centralized conversion facilities. With Takachar’s new system, this would increase profitability by reducing logistics cost of handling, storing, and transporting biomass.
Another UBC spin-off company, Carbin Minerals, will also receive the $1 million Milestone Award. Find more information on this Q & A with two of the Carbin Mineras’ founders, Dr. Greg Dipple and Bethany Ladd.