Eight Inspiring Startups Based on ‘Green’ Tech Out of Columbia – Columbia University

Long before the Columbia Climate School was launched, scientists and engineers have sought out solutions to some of the existential crises of our time, from climate change to shortages of clean water and other natural resources. Across Columbia, they’ve proposed ingenious answers to seemingly intractable problems. In the process, they’re redefining everything from “waste” to “natural” resources. Along the way, Columbia Technology Ventures and Columbia Entrepreneurship have provided help patenting and licensing ideas, and provided training and other support to bring these new tools and technologies to market. Columbia’s interdisciplinary culture has also been instrumental. 

Here are eight ways that discoveries made in the lab, field, and even a sweltering dorm room, are being translated into applications that could deliver huge benefits to people and the planet.

Water treatment and natural gas production

AdvanceH20 develops tools to help wastewater treatment plants convert wastewater and raw sewage into clean water, energy, and nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorus. The company sells an annual all-in-one plant analytics and management package to water managers worldwide. Developed in the lab of Columbia Engineering professor Kartik Chandran, the patented technologies include a system for tracking microbial DNA and RNA in plant treatment reactors so that they can be redesigned to produce more clean water, energy, and nutrients during the treatment process. Extracting resources from waste is a valuable proposition as the world’s population nears 8 billion.

Source: https://news.columbia.edu/news/eight-inspiring-startups-based-green-tech-out-columbia