With the goal of sustainable innovations in mind, four University of Wisconsin students were able to cash in on their green invention for an Earth Day challenge on campus

The students took the top prize of $50,000 and a yearlong lease space in the University Research Park’s Metro Innovation Center in the third annual Climate Leadership Challenge, hosted by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies’ Earth Day conference.

A statement from UW said students Joseph Keuler, Matthew Kirk, Patrick Kirk and David Osmalov composed the winning problem-solving team.

Nelson Institute program director Tracey Holloway said the group’s project focuses on the booming biogas industry by creating a method to harvest hydrogen from the products produced when farm wastes are converted to harness natural gas energy.

In the project, Tracey said the team found a “win-win” chemical approach to convert biofuels waste using enzymes. She said this approach could function to not only reduce waste and fossil fuel usage but also provide another source of income to farm owners.

With many teams working on their proposals for weeks before submitting a 20-page summary report, Holloway said judges selected a proposal that demonstrated the potential to provide a successful contribution to research on sustainability.

“We looked for something new and realistic that students could actually implement,” she said. “They have the potential to become blockbusters and this group could take a meaningful step in getting the ball rolling.”

Proposals were initially narrowed down to the top four teams, Holloway said. The other three teams each received awards of $2,000. She said the challenge is open to all undergraduate or graduate students in any college or program.

With the challenge, the Institute hopes to promote a culture of problem-solving around big environmental issues while also allowing students to do networking in the industry and consider real-world solutions that can be used as an engine for entrepreneurship, Holloway said.

Osmalov, a UW senior, said the group looks forward to the opportunity to begin purchasing equipment to further research their new approach to sustainable fuel and said members were “absolutely flabbergasted” at the winning announcement.

He said the group worked with a certain synergy after knowing each other for nearly five years and he anticipates the opportunity to establish a company based on the proposal that received acclaim in the competition.

The group began working on their proposal near the beginning of the semester and Osmalov said he and his teammates spent nearly eight weeks conducting scientific research and strategizing how to most effectively sell their idea.

“We just stumbled upon a couple of really good ideas and worked on putting some cutting-edge technology together in a novel way,” he said.

He also said the final implementation of the proposal would include building expansion reactors for existing biogas fuel centers throughout the state. While the team has not received direct offers from members of the energy community, the students expect the project could carry broad appeal among industry leaders.

Osmalov, who is majoring in chemistry, added that participation in the challenge provides an invaluable experience for students involved, regardless of their field of study.