SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Pollution problems are nothing new for Asian nations, with millions of deaths being attributed to the dirty air, Bangalore-based Graviky Labs has begun capturing carbon from car tailpipes and the country’s industrial smokestacks to transform it into “Air-ink.”
Graviky Labs have made a Kickstarter page in the hopes of funding further expansion of the company.
Based on research members of the team conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, the process begins with an instrument Graviky calls a Kaalink. It’s a proprietary electrostatic filter that captures pollutants from vehicles or generators, reportedly without impacting engine performance. The captured soot is then processed to remove dangerous metals and carcinogens, leaving behind carbon pigment.
Several black inks are already made with the help of carbon black, which is the byproduct of the burning petroleum products heavily. That means Graviky’s process could have a two-sided impact on pollution and greenhouse gases.
Graviky says 45 minutes worth of captured emissions is enough to fill one of the company’s large markers of 30 milliliters of ink. However, emissions standards are slowly growing much more stringent in Asia, though in the case of India, emission standards are nearly a decade behind that of the U.S. or Europe. In India, many older cars manufactured with lower or no emissions controls, such as the Maruti 800 and Hindustan Ambassador, remain regulars on the road.
During an interview with Wired, Graviky’s founders said they want to see Kaalinks fitted to India’s bus and taxi fleets, which would deposit used filters into “carbon banks” for processing by the company.
However, cost could be an obstacle to that goal — one Air-Ink marker currently carries the retail price of $25, the company’s Kickstarter will run until March 9. Regardless, ink remains a rather secretly expensive consumable.
