Nicolás Ángeles, Lizbeth Gutiérrez and Luis Lira, graduates of the IPN of Guanajuato, won with an environmental scientific project.

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December 7, 2020 2 min read

This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.

As the Mexican saying goes, if there is talent, you just need to support it. Three young graduates from the National Polytechnic Institute of León, Guanajuato , won first place in the Latin American innovation competition with an environmental project.

Biotechnologists Nicolás Ángeles, Lizbeth Gutiérrez and Luis Lira developed bioreactors with microalgae that reduce industrial greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, and PM2.5 and PM10 particles by up to 85 percent.


Image: Via IPN

According to the IPN page , the project of the startup formed by polytechnic graduates, called Ecoscience Lab , proposes to connect a bioreactor directly to chimneys or to any source of industrial pollution and through a biological process to use these highly polluting gases as nutrients so that a group of microalgae produces oxygen and biomass, which is later used in the production of other products.

This competition was organized for all of Latin America by the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires , the Tecnológico de Massachusetts and the Sloan Latin America Office .
This contest began in March of this year and Mexicans stood out among 1,400 participating projects.

According to the young entrepreneurs, with this biotechnological advance, industrial gaseous waste can be managed and revalued, thereby implementing a circular and sustainable business model based on three axes: the leasing of the reactor, its maintenance service and the marketing of biomass extracts to the cosmetic, food and agricultural markets.