MANILA - De La Salle University (DLSU) won the P1-million prize in a national contest on green energy sponsored by First Gen Corporation. 

DLSU engineering students, Alexia Roman and Fernando Magallanes, and Ralph Stephen Saavedra, a student of applied economics and accountancy won the competition which aims to spotlight innovative strategies for reducing carbon emissions within educational institutions.

The three devised a system for using food waste from DLSU's cafeteria to create biogas through a compact anaerobic digester system.

First Gen Corporation bestowed the P1-million prize as an innovation fund to DLSU, earmarked for realizing the students' digester design. Additionally, the winning team received a personal cash prize of P100,000.

The students' entry addresses carbon emissions and also tackles the cafeteria's expenses for cooking gas and waste disposal. 

Annually, the cafeteria generates over 28,000 kilograms of organic waste, emitting approximately 480,000 kilograms of greenhouse gases. Through anaerobic digestion, the proposed system can mitigate these emissions by converting waste into biogas.

The competition, dubbed "Code Green for Campuses," attracted over 50 teams from 29 universities nationwide. During the final round, Team Lumbricina from DLSU triumphed alongside other finalists, including Ateneo de Manila University, FEU Institute of Technology, Silliman University, and Technological Institute of the Philippines.

Jerome Cainglet, President of First Gen subsidiary Energy Development Corporation, emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts in combating climate change. He stressed that the climate crisis demands collective action beyond individual, corporate, or national boundaries.

Dr. Rodel Lasco, a renowned scientist from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, led the panel of judges during the final round. The judging panel comprised experts from academia, environmental communications, corporate sustainability, and advocacy.

As the world grapples with the urgency of climate change, initiatives like the First Gen competition underscore the vital role of innovation and collaboration in fostering sustainable solutions.

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