Committed to combating climate change, Kardle Industries provides innovative carbon capture and air purification technologies that capture harmful greenhouse gas pollutants from industrial and urban environments, then transform the CO2 into useful commercial products.The company’s main product, the Aersafe Carbon Capture System (ACCS), is a stackable module that operates on solar power. It is built with a nature-based CO2 treatment mechanism that not only captures CO2 but also handles organic compounds (VOCs) and air pollutants.
Usually, carbon capture uses chemical solvents, direct air capture machines, or a membrane-based system that separates gases. But Aersafe is unique as it uses physisorption, in which materials naturally absorb carbon without heavy chemical processing. “We thought, why not use biologically active natural materials that can physically trap carbon?” Vijay explains.
APPROACHING USD 100 per tonne BENCHMARK
Most carbon technologies come up with low scalability and high cost. Currently, direct air capture systems come around USD 600 per tonne, but the market demands, solutions closer to USD 100 per tonne. Traditional solvent-based systems can capture CO2 at around USD 50 per tonne; however, the energy and freshwater requirements make them unsustainable. Kardle aims to approach the USD 100 per-tonne benchmark and eventually match solvent-based systems on cost without their environmental drawbacks.
FOCUS ON THE SUSTAINABILITY
ACCS utilises a nature-based biodegradable carbon capture element, which is then converted into carbon and nitrogen-rich pellets for soil restoration. Adding on to that, ACCS uses stainless steel , which is 100 per cent recyclable for constructing ACCS Channels. “By 2047, the estimated carbon trade market in India alone is Rs 270 lakh crore,” points Vijay. If India scales carbon credit adoption, it could reshape the global carbon capture landscapes. Kardle Industries is becoming one of India’s top 10 carbon start-ups and ranks globally among the 100 carbon start-ups with accreditations and validations from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Started with just Rs 1.2 lakh as seed money from his mother, today Kardle generates revenue close to 100,000 USD. Vijay has had his share of struggles too. The major challenge was in local manufacturing. It almost took two years for him to convince fabricators in Chennai to understand Kardle’s complex design and deliver it. To elevate the production strategies, Vijay believes that apprenticeship can bridge the gap as a good solution. He mentions that if the students are incentivised with internships, software access and industry exposure, they can work closely with fabricators. He also states that to improve the production central institues can come up with collaborative environments and India. He states that such connections help start ups like Kardle industries knock on a few doors better and increase production and strengthen their technology and validation pathways.
After the initial stages of development, Kardle Industries has got Rs 7 lakhs from EDIITN through Crescent Innovation & Incubation Council (CIIC), NIDHI-PRAYAS grant of Rs 9 lakhs from the Department of Science and Technology and around Rs 2 crore from StartupTN and KEC.