Fertilizer innovation aims to reduce carbon footprint

LOWELL >> Imagine a lowcost fertilizer made from solar power and water that does not emit greenhouse gas and could be used in developing nations to overcome food insecurity.

Green Fertilizer, an innovation designed and piloted by Umass Lowell students Sam Alpert, Benard Tabu and Visal Veng, is on its way to being just that. Now a step closer, the product and the team behind it are being championed by Venturewell, which has awarded the students $20,000 in funding to advance their technology.

Alpert of Needham, and Tabu and Veng, of Lowell, who are all pursuing doctoral degrees in energy engineering, are enrolled in the organization’s Propel workshop, which will provide them with the resources, mentoring and networking opportunities essential to bringing the innovation to the marketplace.

“Green Fertilizer is a technology that produces fertilizer on-demand and onsite using solar power. The technology is modular and offers decentralized production that is benign to the environment, as it does not emit greenhouse gases,” said Tabu, a native of Uganda, where he said fertilizer is in short supply due to its high cost. He went on to explain, being able to produce fertilizer where it will be used will cut down on costs for local farmers and lead to a more bountiful harvest.

The Green Fertilizer team is one of only 31 across the country chosen to participate in the Propel program. Venturewell selected the Umass Lowell students based on the potential for their product to have a significant positive social, health or environmental impact, according to the organization.

Thinking about his homeland and the need to solve its agricultural challenges, Tabu and his classmates Alpert and Veng pursued their idea as participants in Umass Lowell’s Rist Differencemaker Institute entrepreneurship program. Since its launch in 2012, Differencemaker participants have raised $7 million

ED BRENNEN FOR UMASS LOWELL Umass Lowell students have won praise and early-stage support for their innovation, Green Fertilizer. Here, Ruairi O’mahony, far left, executive director of Umass Lowell’s Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy, presents team members, from left, Sam Alpert, Benard Tabu and Visal Veng, with funding to advance their innovation.