Husk Insulation Snags $200,000 Grand Prize in MIT Clean Energy Competition
A team of MBA students from the University of Michigan has won the $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Grand Prize for creating the startup Husk Insulation and its patented process to convert agricultural waste into thin, high-grade insulated panels.
A team of MBA students from the University of Michigan has won the $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Grand Prize for creating the startup Husk Insulation and its patented process to convert agricultural waste into thin, high-grade insulated panels.
Husk Insulation was among the 100 entries from 40 colleges and universities vying for cash prizes and recognition in the national annual student competition that was founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy and NSTAR to spur clean energy entrepreneurship.
Husk Insulation also won $10,000 for being selected as the honoree in the Biomass Category. It was one of five category winners. The full list is available here. The list of semi-finalists in the overall competition is available here.
Husk Insulation is poised to join the market for advanced insulation, which is part of a broader $7 billion insulation market in the United States. The company has developed a process to turn rice husks and other agricultural waste into cost-effective vacuum insulated panels that are as much as 10 times more effective as conventional petroleum-based insulation, members of the team say.
They estimate that if widely used, their product could reduce U.S. energy consumption by more than 57 billion kilowatt-hours.
Husk Insulation plans to first target the refrigeration industry, team members say, because their product has the potential to improve refrigerator efficiency by up to 50 percent.
Members of the Husk Insulation team receive a giant copy of their check from officials of the sponsoring organization. From left in the photo are Shally Madan, Siddhartha Sinha, MIT President Susan Hockfield, NSTAR CEO Tom May, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Elizabeth Uhlhorn, Ian Dailey and Erica Graham.
Rice photo CC licensed by robertz65.
Husk Insulation was among the 100 entries from 40 colleges and universities vying for cash prizes and recognition in the national annual student competition that was founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy and NSTAR to spur clean energy entrepreneurship.
Husk Insulation also won $10,000 for being selected as the honoree in the Biomass Category. It was one of five category winners. The full list is available here. The list of semi-finalists in the overall competition is available here.
Husk Insulation is poised to join the market for advanced insulation, which is part of a broader $7 billion insulation market in the United States. The company has developed a process to turn rice husks and other agricultural waste into cost-effective vacuum insulated panels that are as much as 10 times more effective as conventional petroleum-based insulation, members of the team say.
They estimate that if widely used, their product could reduce U.S. energy consumption by more than 57 billion kilowatt-hours.
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Husk Insulation plans to first target the refrigeration industry, team members say, because their product has the potential to improve refrigerator efficiency by up to 50 percent.
Members of the Husk Insulation team receive a giant copy of their check from officials of the sponsoring organization. From left in the photo are Shally Madan, Siddhartha Sinha, MIT President Susan Hockfield, NSTAR CEO Tom May, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Elizabeth Uhlhorn, Ian Dailey and Erica Graham.
Rice photo CC licensed by robertz65.
