A device that can convert air pollution from diesel generator sets to ink is a new innovation Delhi will experiment with this year. The device, created by a start-up that has tied up with the Delhi government, can be retrofitted on diesel generators, effectively capturing 90% of particulate matter emission. The start-up, Chakr Innovation, calls the device ‘Chakr Shield’ — with ‘chakr’ or circle denoting the closing loop for black carbon.

“It uses a solion-based method and is one of a kind. It doesn’t cause an adverse impact on the environment. The captured pollutant — essentially black carbon — is processed and converted into ink and paint,” Arpit Dhupar (25), chief technology officer, said.

The Delhi-based start-up was founded by three tech graduates — Dhupar, Kushagra Srivastava (22) and Prateek Sachan (22) — in 2015. They launched a pilot project in 2016. The same year, they won the University of Chicago’s ‘Urban Labs Innovation Challenge’ — a partnership between the university and the Delhi government, which sought to crowd-source local ideas to cut pollution in the capital.

Since then, the company has raised a seed funding of Rs 1.6 crore from grants from different national and international bodies — including the Delhi government which, along with the University of Chicago, gave a grant of $100,000 in 2016. They are now working with the the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago’s India team….