They look like mini chimneys. You see them in all HDB estates, and some people use them every other day. We’re talking about the joss-paper burners found at the foot of HDB blocks.

Installed by the Town Councils, these burners are designed to prevent the joss-paper ash from flying about. However, by-products such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, as well as tiny dust particles still escape into the atmosphere, contributing to pollution and perhaps global warming.

Now, a new device invented by a team of students from TP’s Diploma in Clean Energy looks set to change this. They have invented a special hood called the “BioEco-Multi Fitted Catalytic Converter” that is retrofitted onto a joss-paper burner. The fumes that are given off by the burning of paper passes through two filters containing activated carbon powder which absorb the harmful greenhouse gases and trap the small dust particles, to prevent them from being released into the atmosphere. So now you can breathe easy.

The invention won the students an Encouragement award in the annual Green Wave Environmental Care competition organised by Sembcorp Marine in November 2019.

The project is an example of how students in TP’s Diploma in Clean Energy apply their knowledge to come up with innovative and practical inventions that benefit the environment.