Husk Insulation wins $200,000 MIT prize

Husk Insulation was named the winner of the $200,000 MIT Clean Energy Prize, a national student competition founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the US Department of Energy, and NSTAR to accelerate the pace of clean energy entrepreneurship, NSTAR said in a press release.

Husk Insulation is a team of MBA students from the University of Michigan that came up with an idea to make more efficient insulation for refrigerators and other products, said a spokeswoman for NSTAR, a Boston-based electric and gas utility company.

Upon graduation, the students plan to launch a company called Husk Insulation that will convert plant-based agricultural waste into thin, high-grade insulation that is far more efficient than conventional petroleum-based insulation, NSTAR said.

Some of the agricultural waste used in the process is rice husks, hence the Husk Insulation name, the NSTAR spokeswoman said.

In a statement commenting on Husk Insulation's victory, Husk Insulation president Ian Dailey said: "Our mission is to increase energy efficiency through high-performance insulation. Winning this substantial prize enables us to more effectively promote our product to manufacturers so they can design more efficient refrigerators, which can reduce our nation's electricity use and carbon emissions."

Husk Insulation idea was selected from more than 100 initial entrees that seek to save energy, said the press release, which added that with roughly 11 million refrigerators sold each year in the United States, potential energy savings from the Husk concept is "significant."

The photo that accompanies this post shows the winners receiving a giant check. The photo was provided by NSTAR.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)