Takachar, India's recycling startup among Prince William's £1.2mn Earthshot Prize awardees

Indian startup Takachar was among five recipients of the inaugural Earthshot prizes awarded by Queen Elizabeth II's grandson Prince William at a ceremony in London on Sunday. The awards were given to initiatives from Costa Rica, Italy, the Bahamas, and India. Prince William established the new yearly prizes to recognise efforts to safeguard the earth in the face of climate change and global warming. There were five winners, each of whom received one million pounds ($1.4 million).

The royal displeasure with world leaders' inaction on climate change dominated the build-up to the broadcast event, which featured renowned naturalist David Attenborough and performances by Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and others. On Sunday, the Republic of Costa Rica took home the "Protect and Restore Nature" award for its efforts to protect forests, plant trees, and restore ecosystems.

Takachar: India's Recycling Project Bags Earthshot Environment Prize

Takachar, an Indian startup, earned the "Clean our Air" award for developing a portable machine that converts agricultural waste into fertiliser, preventing farmers from burning garbage and polluting the environment.

Takachar, a social enterprise founded by Vidyut Mohan, has created a low-cost, small-scale, portable device that attaches to tractors in distant farms. Crop leftovers are converted into marketable bio-products such as fuel and fertiliser by the machine. Takachar's technology reduces smoke emissions by up to 98%, helping to improve air quality, which is now reducing the life expectancy of the afflicted population by up to five years. The company believes that its device has the potential to save a billion tonnes of CO2 per year if scaled up which would result in a win for India's farmers and the fight against climate change.

Coral Vita, from the Bahamas, was the other winner for a concept to grow coral in tanks 50 times faster than it normally develops. Milan, in northern Italy, got the "Food Waste Hubs" prize for collecting wasted food and distributing it to those in need. The "Fix our Climate" prize was given to a Thai-German-Italian team for the AEM Electrolyzer, which uses renewable energy to split water into its constituent parts and produce clean hydrogen.

Earthshot prize finalists selected from over 750 nominations 

Companies will assist each of the finalists in developing their initiatives, which were picked by experts from over 750 nominations. The Earthshot Prize will be held next in the United States in 2022. The Prize was inspired by US President John F. Kennedy's "Moonshot" mission to put a man on the moon in the 1960s. The prize was launched in October last year and covers five topics-- 'how to conserve and restore the environment', 'how to clean our air', 'how to resuscitate our oceans', 'how to create a waste-free planet', and 'how to fix our climate'.

(Image: @VidyutMohan/Twitter)