Welcome back to Luminaries, an UPROXX original series spotlighting young inventors using technology to change the world. This episode was made possible by The 100% Electric Nissan LEAF®.

A fair majority of what comes out of your car’s tailpipe is carbon dioxide, a gas we don’t need more of. But carbon dioxide is inevitable when you burn something; it’s part of the combustion process. However, it doesn’t have to go into the atmosphere, and Param Jaggi has figured out a way to turn it into oxygen.

You’ve likely heard of Jaggi before; he’s been working on green technologies since he was in high school. At 14, he built a bio-reactor using algae, and he’s gotten attention from the auto industry for his work in capturing and reusing the waste heat cars generate. At 21, most of his life and his career has been focused on cleaning up the Earth and changing the course of where we’re headed.

However, nothing is quite as ambitious as the Ecotube. Jaggi uses layers of algae on plates arranged in a tube; when you start your car, emissions flow over it… including the CO2 we need out of the atmosphere. The algae turn the CO2 into oxygen, and even the least fuel efficient vehicle has become far more green.

Being green is not a trend, it’s a necessity for both our Earth and our wallets. There are many innovations on the way for how we drive to get more out of the gas tank, and in some cases, like the 100% Electric Nissan LEAF®, ending the burning of gas altogether. But we can’t put everyone in a green vehicle right away, and with the Ecotube, we can ensure everyone can get behind the wheel of a car that contributes oxygen, not CO2.

Brought to you by Nissan Electric.