Economic CO2 Absorbing Paint to Reduce Indoor Emissions

Lockdown from the CoVid-19 pandemic forced many people to spend additional time indoors which increased the usage of gas/wood stoves, fireplaces, candles, other eclectic appliances, and heating systems. Infact, 16% of global emissions come from electricity and heating. Along with respiration, such open fire appliances contribute to the increase in the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) within our very own households as well as the environment. Indoor CO2 pollution can even cause mild to severe health effects depending on the amount and time one is exposed to it. Unfortunately, many people cannot afford to buy expensive ventilation systems to help rid of the excess CO2. Furthermore, ventilation systems might help rid the interior of houses from CO2 gas, but by pushing the gasses out into the atmosphere, they don’t help in reducing atmospheric CO2 pollution. The main problem is that CO2 pollution is increasing indoors and well as outdoors, but there is not an economical solution for everyone's perusal to help mitigate the amount of CO2.

In order to mitigate this problem, a product for reducing CO2 levels is necessary. Recent studies on alkaline mine wastes have shown that alkaline substances have the ability to absorb CO2. Of all the alkaline substances, Ca(OH)2 is the least corrosive and effectively absorbs CO2 even at room temperatures, hence it was used as the alkaline mine waste simulator. Ca(OH)2 was incorporated into a self manufactured flour based paint. The effectiveness of the CO2 absorbing property of the paint was examined by measuring the CO2 levels within two wooden boxes: one painted along the interior, and the other left bare. For CO2 generation, 200 germinating peas were placed in each box. The average rate of CO2 emission is 207.54 ppm per hour and the average rate of CO2 absorption by the paint is 176.958 ppm per hour. This significant decrease in the CO2 levels in the painted box is indicative of the CO2 absorption property of the paint. The success of this experiment paves way for large scale production of the paint for household and industrial purposes.

My solution is for everyone. The paint absorbs CO2 to prevent both atmospheric CO2 pollution AND indoor CO2 pollution. Furthermore, because the paint was made from organic, economical, and everyday materials, everyone can afford the paint regardless of their economical status. The paint will help absorb excess CO2 pollution indoors during construction and after the use of open-flame, electrical, or heating appliances in order to create a safer indoor and outdoor environment for people living in their homes.

The team is very devoted to helping economically unstable families and has been involved in many past projects whose aims were to improve the lives of underrepresented or underdeveloped communities and/or individuals. For example, the team has previously created an app for immigrants to help them better settle into the US, volunteered for organizations like the Second Harvest Food Bank, and started an independent project of helping low-income people using Food Stamps. Having seen the conditions and lifestyles of various families who are not as economically stable as others, the team was able to think about the problem from the perspective of those individuals and kept them in mind when coming up with the solution.

The product has already been built, but it has not been applied anywhere yet. 

The project is still in its prototype phase, so no one yet. In the future, though, the projecct hopes to serve as many ndividuals as possible. 

Currently, our team needs help in taking our prototype to the next level. We don’t really know what the next steps from here on out are. How do we bring the product to the market? We would also like to refine our protype’s functionality and structure, but we are not sure who and where to get help from. Lastly, we do not have that much experience with business models, so we would like to receive help in this aspect.

Novel. Economic. Organic. 

Please see the results as described here: 

For our business model, we hope to earn money by selling variations of our paint. The main basic paint will not be sold for any amount of money, but variations such as color change, smell, and texture will require additional costs. This cost will be used to help improve the fucntionality and appearance of our product and pay our workers.