Aloe Ecell Pvt Ltd, is a startup company based in India, who won national startup award 2020 by startup India for their invention of 100% natural, eco-friendly battery Out of aloe-vera. This amazing invention is done by two engineering graduates Nimisha Verma and Naveen Suman. The headquarters of the company is in Rajiv Nagar, Lucknow.
Batteries are used everywhere as a primary source of energy for electronic devices. These conventional small, disposable batteries that we use in our remotes, clocks, toys are alkaline batteries. They are made of many harmful chemical substances like sulfuric acid, sodium bicarbonate etc. And the reusable batteries which can be recharged and used multiple times are lithium-ion batteries and lead acid batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are used in laptops and smartphones. Lead acid batteries are used in cars. These batteries also contain lead, nickel, cadmium, mercury etc. which are very hazardous. If these were not handled carefully, end up leaching into the environment and the ultimate result is pollution. The polluted water and soil will confirm accumulation of these compounds in plants and animals. And also, these batteries are used only up to their 70-80% efficiency and landfilling of these waste batteries may cause explosion. They also cause liver cirrhosis and pulmonary heart disease. As reported by India today Our country contributes for 82% of E-waste. In addition, All the raw materials for the preparation of these batteries are almost imported from different countries. This import applies a high pressure of $148 billion on the Indian economy.
Till this invention Aloe-vera is only known for its medicinal property and as a natural moisturizer. But the scenario has changed now. A new belief on manufacturing of eco-friendly batteries is built. As Nimisha Verma says she always has been an environment friendly person and when she saw Ghaziabad landfill which had huge amount of waste filled made her to think about contributing towards the waste management.
As consequence aloe-ecell created aloe-vera batteries. These can be used to power remotes, clocks, torches and cameras. and it is of 1.5V power liquid battery at a cost of 9-10 rupees per battery which is 10% less than existing ones. These batteries can easily be recycled or refilled. It is safe during use and also after disposal. They will never cause any kind of pollution. The internal structure of the battery is like that it will help in better ion transport. It is leakproof. And no special segregation and disposal processes are needed. An increased use of these batteries will decrease the pressure on the economy by up to 78% saving approximately $109 billion. It will increase the market demand of aloe-vera and benefits the farmer as 2-3 crops of aloe-vera can be easily grown on a small land. A profit of 8400 USD can happen on growing aloe-vera on 2 acres of land per harvest. This will also decrease pollution by 71.6% and disease caused by dry cell batteries by 97%. Zinc usage will also decrease by 89%. Nimisha also hopes to produce mobile batteries as well.
Like aloe-ecell there are many startups which can make India’s Athmanirbhar dream come true if executed with a vision and will help India grow bwtter.