Maria Isabel Toasa Cordero

The Innovator: 

Maria has a Masters in environmental and water engineering with over 4 years experience in bioremediation and sustainable matters. Maria is also a passionate environmental conservationist, resulting in the development of innovative ideas in order to help create more sustainable and eco-friendly materials, leading to the development of Em Energy. 

The Innovation: 

Em Energys’ mission is to revolutionize and replace the need for chemical based batteries. The solution involves an eco-friendly refillable battery that is powered by beneficial microorganisms and algae extracts. Whilst chemical batteries are essential to human day-to-day life, their life cycle from production to disposal has been linked to detrimental environmental damage from the high emission of greenhouse gases to the pollution of chemical leaks into soil and water. The Em Energy battery will transform the life cycle of the battery, as its performance will match the heavy metal and toxic chemical batteries used today, while promoting a cyclical framework whereby the battery cell disposal will improve nutrients in the soil and water biota. The sustainable harvest of beneficial microorganisms from healthy soils and algae extracts will generate a solution that contains nitrogen, phosphorus, iron and other nutrients in a stable chemical structure, containing hydrogen radicals that act like lithium electrons in a conventional battery. After use, Em Energy batteries can be replaced and disposed of in the soil, providing nutrients to the soil and food availability for sensitive macroinvertebrate in aquatic ecosystems.

Why is innovation important: 

“The sustainability of human life is co-existent with the protection of our oceans as we rely on them to produce the necessary components of human life – clean air, food and water. Oceans hold 96.5 percent of the Earth's water and have the capacity to detox the carbon dioxide concentration from the world and regulate the world temperature. The steep growth in population and consequently consumption have made ocean health essential to survival, thus sustainability and maintenance strategies are being implemented on a global scale to combat change. Since the industrial revolution, a lack of understanding and responsibility with respect to production and consumption have considerably impacted the health of our oceans and the aquatic ecosystems within. Nowadays, it is common to find microplastic in water body samples, coral bleach and water acidification, and reduction of food availability in sensitive biota such as Plankton, necessary to maintain the quality and balance of our oceans. This contamination has led to the disappearance of aquatic life in many ecosystems and of natural wonders such as reefs. The proliferation of environmental protectionism has promoted a movement where environmental consciousness must be viewed in line with the economical reward of the business, with any derision punishable by taxes and penalties. Consequently, eco-friendly tech innovations have boomed, creating strategies to reduce our impact on the health of our oceans. It is vital for new innovations to rely on self-harvesting or production, seeking creative solutions that improve human life and ecosystem balance. It is important as individuals to start developing and supporting sustainable habits. Support the small industries that care about the environment. The innovative and eco-friendly ideas that are developing must be both affordable and government mandated according to the environmental impact the products or services really have on our soil, air and water bodies.” - Maria Isabel Toasa Cordero