My Blog

By MELODY M. AGUIBA http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2005/06/21/BSNS2005062137497.html

Loads of sugar industry waste (bagasse ash and filter cake) may turn out to be useful raw materials for a profitable cement venture that also eliminates foul air emission in the environment. "EcoCement," a cement made of filter cake and bagasse ash, has been technically found to be a viable alternative, and perhaps significantly cheaper, to limestone-based cement as affirmed by German firm Merck KgaA. "They have verified its strength in (Hannover) Germany. Assuming we can accept that statement, I think there’s no need to check (its comparability to traditional cement)," said Miguel Angel Gaspar, one of the Philippines’ largest sugar refiners Central Azucarera Don Pedro (CADP) president and chief executive officer. Developed by young Filipino scientists Bonar Laureto and Deorex David Navaja, EcoCement’s invention arose from Laureto and Navaja’s repugnance of the foul smell that comes from the refineries of a neighboring refinery in their residence in Bukidnon. "The odor was so unbearable. We hoped we could get rid of it. Here is a technology that makes use of the waste for free as a material for making cement without needing to mine boulders of limestone and transport these to the plant which is cost-intensive " said Laureto, also a buyer Young Environmental Envoy Awardee to a Germany International forum. The two inventors eventually got the chance to collaborate on using bagasse ash (product from the burning of the matted cellulose fiber residue from sugarcane) and filter cake (moist, earth-like by-product of filtration processes in refined sugar production) to develop the cement. As Portland cement has a compressive strength of 3,777.37 pounds per square inch (PSI), EcoCement has been tested to have a comparable strength of 3,776.53 PSI. A housing non-government organization that is interested in using the technology in building houses for the needy, My Shelter Foundation (MSF), said Laureto and Navaja, MSF, and Indian investors may tie-up in putting up the cement plant. Their target for its completion is set by the middle of 2007. "We’re trying to see if we can get partners from India to build it for commercial production. They’re one of the largest contractors for small scale cement plants. But we’re still on the negotiating table. What is good about this is there’ll be no crushing of mountains of lime. It’s all sustainable," said MSF Executive Director Illac Diaz. Diaz hinted EcoCement may be notably cheaper than commercially-produced cement, although it will not definitely be a competitor of Portland cement nor substitute much of its production.

By Charles E. Buban
Inquirer News Service

FOR these two young men — both 21 years old — from the sugar-producing town of Musuan in the province of Bukidnon, Mindanao, necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

Living next to a sugar factory, Bonar Laureto and Deorex David Navaja grew up being exposed to the not-so-sweet side of the sugar industry.

"Ever since, our community has to deal with sugarcane filter cake and bagasse (crushed sugarcane) ash — two major [types of] solid waste produced by sugar factories here," Laureto explained.

Pressed filter cakes are foul-smelling, explained Laureto, while bagasse ashes, which can remain suspended in the air, contain high amounts of silica, which when inhaled can cause silicosis of the lungs.

Most sugar-producing communities around the country have learned to live with these sugarcane by-products.

"We realized we need to do something and not just find suitable dumps for these harmful waste products," Laureto said.

What the two did could finally solve their community’s problem: Laureto and Navaja found a way to make commercial-grade cement out of this solid waste.

They discovered that the waste contains components needed for the manufacture of cement-like material.

The two tested three methods of cement manufacture and made different types of cement blocks. The result was a cement with an acceptable level of stability.

Less expensive

According to the two inventors, their discovery is less expensive to manufacture and can help both reduce waste and save on natural resources.

"But we’re not putting cement factories out of business," clarified Laureto. "In fact, we are offering them other means of manufacturing their cement or give small businesses [the chance] to venture into cement [manufacturing]."

Laureto said producing cement from sugarcane waste is also dependent on the sugar factories that produce the waste.

"We designed a method of purifying the waste to achieve maximum percentage composition of the desired chemicals. Then, these chemicals are proportioned to specific amounts that, when allowed chemically to react, form cement compounds," Laureto explained.

Laureto also said these compounds are further exposed to a specific condition at a specific time sequence to allow chemical reaction to take place, thus forming cement compounds with approximately the same percentage composition as that of its commercially produced counterparts.

"We have an independent group that tested our experimental products and from the results, the chemical composition and compressive strength of our concrete are comparable to that of its counterparts in the market," he said.

High school project

The cement initiative of Laureto and Navaja began as a science high school project.

"From there, we were able to perfect our invention, thanks to the support of our high school teachers and our professors at the Central Mindanao University," Laureto recounted.

Their discovery earned them the Merck Internship Award given by the Worldwide Young Researchers for the Environment in Hannover, Germany in October 2000 and the Sibol Award (college level) granted by the World Intellectual Property Organization during National Inventors’ Week in November 2001.

Their discovery’s application in waste recycling led companies like Bayer to take notice of their work.

Laureto was among the young innovators chosen by Bayer Philippines last year to go to the global headquarters of the Bayer Group in Germany under its Young Environmental Envoy Program. This program caters to students, helping them understand the role that the industry plays in environmental protection.

Last month, he went to Sydney, Australia to attend the Eco-Innovate Youth Forum ‘03, a convention intended to switch young people to the ultimate sustainability challenge — turning "eco-innovations" into viable applications.

"Now that they have this knowledge and experience of the various components necessary to foster their own ideas, we are giving them a chance to further develop this so the world may benefit from what they found," explained Dorothy Claro of Bayer.

Laureto and Navaja are currently completing all the requirements to have their invention patented. It is a tedious procedure, Laureto admitted, but he and Navaja are determined to complete the process.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today congratulated the top five Bayer Young Environmental Envoys, who, based on the presentation and defense of their respective action plans, were proclaimed winners during awards night held at the Heritage Hotel on September 23, 2002.

The President, during a courtesy call in Malacanang, wished these five young envoys good luck when they embark on an educational trip to Germany from November 17 to 23. They were accompanied to Malacanang by Senator Loren Legarda-Leviste.

Together with their counterparts from Thailand, Singapore and India, these envoys will have the opportunity to observe environmental best practices in a highly developed country like Germany.

The Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Program originated in Thailand in 1995 under the auspices of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and a group of companies operating in Thailand.

Bayer Thai has always been a major supporter of the program that seeks to educate the youth in the global efforts to save and protect the environment.

Owing to its success, the project expanded to an international level. In 2001, Bayer Philippines decided to adopt the same project in the country.

Bayer Philippines and Luntiang Pilipinas program established a joint project in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to look for qualified applicants for environmental envoys.

Applicants were required to submit their resumes and write an essay on "My personal contribution to the environment and how it has made a difference" in no more than 500 words.

During their call on the Palace, the five envoys presented to the President their action plans, while at the same time sought her endorsement that these be implemented in their respective localities with the help of their governors.

Bonar Laureto from the Central Mindanao University in Musuan, Bukidnon presented his action plan on non-industrial solid waste segregation program.

Shenna Rhea Maranguit of the University of the Immaculate Conception in Davao City expounded on her Sagip watershed action plan, while Jennifer Orbeso of the Universidad de Santa Isabel in Naga City, explained her "three year development plan for Universidad de Santa Isabel Ecological Park.

Ivan Pumaren of the West Visayas State University in La Paz, Iloilo presented his composting project and Stephanie Sunshine Sy of the De La Salle University in Manila gave an action plan for her "pay it green forward" project.

Source: Jakarta Post, July 25, 2003

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the University of New South Wales and Bayer sponsored the inaugural week-long Eco-Innovate 03 in Sydney last week to provide a venue for leading, young eco-innovators from the Asia Pacific region to exchange ideas to preserve the world. The Jakarta Post’s Riyadi Suparno accepted an invitation from Bayer to attend the forum.

Using a plant as a botanical pesticide may sound like a novel idea to most people, but not for Rina Rachmawati, a student at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture. Saddened by the negative impacts of modern farming practices, Rina conducted research to find a botanical pesticide that would not adversely affect the environment. After some laboratory tests, she discovered that a weed, Tembelekan or Lantana camara could be used as a botanical pesticide to control potato tuber moth Phtorimae opercullela. "My work has been inspired by my grievance over the extensive use of synthetic pesticides," she said on the sidelines of Eco-Innovate 03, a forum for young eco-innovators from the Asia Pacific region to exchange ideas on sustainability issues. Her work The implementation of simple technology in sustainable agriculture was selected as one of the winners for the Eco-Innovate 03, sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the University of New South Wales and Bayer.

Sylviyana Caroline Margaretha from the University of Indonesia got another slot at the Eco Innovate 03 for her work on urban greening to guard against the dangers of pollution and flooding in a big city like Jakarta.

Aged between 15 and 23, innovators from Asia Pacific countries including Rina and Sylvia were selected for their outstanding ideas for resolving sustainability issues in their neighborhood and surrounding areas. These young eco-innovators gathered at the University of New South Wales campus in Sydney last week to exchange ideas to promote sustainability issues. They also learned from people in the industrial sector how to develop their innovative ideas into commercial applications.

The following is a summary of a selected number of works by these young innovators:

* Photocopier of the new era, by Tai Jo Fen of Singapore.

Paper usage has been on the rise. However, massive consumption of paper will lead to more trees being cut down, and this could lead to deforestation. There are a lot of solutions to this problem, and Tai Jo Fen offered one of the solutions, that is through her photocopier of the new era. Her idea basically would be to modify photocopier machines so that the photocopier can remove the ink on paper, so that the printed paper can be reused. "My concept relies on the photo-conductive property of the drum in the photocopying machines," she said. She is now working with her professors at the National University of Singapore to patent her work.

* Butterfly-shaped roof by Sylvia Bay of Singapore

Sylvia Bay’s idea is the architectural design of a butterfly-shaped roof that allows rainwater to be channeled, collected and reused. As part of her overall design, the water collected can be reused in a reflective pool, as well as more functional uses like flushing toilets and irrigation. "I estimate that this butterfly-shaped roof can achieve water savings of up to 30 percent," she said. Her proposal is especially relevant in cities where the collection of rainwater is not optimized in individual buildings.

* Biotechnology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by Lamuel Non of the Philippines

Lamuel Non proposes the use algae to convert carbon dioxide produced by industries into sugars and oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. The idea is basically to redirect the carbon dioxide exhaust to algae pools or to compartments with films of algae growth. Through light supplied by light bulbs, photosynthesis takes place among algae utilizing the carbon dioxide from the exhaust and water from the pool to convert them to oxygen and sugars, mainly glucose. Not all carbon dioxide molecules are used up in this setup, so an array of moist films that can hold algae are placed above the pool to convert the remaining carbon dioxide to oxygen and sugar. "The cost of installing this technology is compensated for by possible economic benefits such as new jobs and income from selling harvested algae and collected oxygen gas," said Non, a graduate of the Mindanao State University.

* Cement from sugar production waste by Bonar Laureto of the Philippines

Bonar Laureto put the byproducts of sugar plants to good use by transforming the sugar waste — filter cake and bagasse ash — into cement. These two wastes contain complimentary chemicals that can be used as raw material for cement production, he said. Laureto, a graduate of the Central Mindanao University and an awardee of the Worldwide Intellectual Property Organization, then designed a method of purifying these wastes to achieve maximum percentage composition of the desired chemicals. Then, they are proportioned to specific amounts that, when allowed chemically to react, forms cement compounds. "Cement produced from sugar wastes has strength comparable to that of Portland cement," he said.

* Sustainable Energy Generation by Matthew Bishop of New Zealand

Matthew Bishop, a mechanical engineering student at Canterbury University, sought to investigate ways to improve the efficiency of energy use, and is involved in a project to build a household wind turbine, capable of supplying the entire energy needs of a single house. Working with Windflow Technology Ltd, New Zealand, Bishop’s technology does not allow more efficient power generation as power generation efficiency increases with size. Rather, a small wind turbine allows more options for a household, especially for folks in remote or windy conditions.

* Reducing Computer Garbage by Yue Dong of China

Yue Dong, a second year Environmental Engineering student at Shanghai Jiaotong University, has investigated the reduction of computer garbage, offering an Internet-based exchange and sales system for used computers. His proposal is to build a platform on the internet to collect and dispatch used computers. Owners of used and left-unused computers can register on the website with information on the computer. Whoever wants a computer urgently can search for the information they want on the website. For distribution between suppliers and buyers, the website manager can either render agency service. The website can serve to promote the donation of used or spare computers to poor regions and serve as a coordination and transfer center.

Earthbag system: dome houses provide solution to dwelling lack
By FRANCIS Y. CAPISTRANO, Reporter

A house built using sandbag or earthbag technology could cost around P50,000 to P70,000, or 30% to 60% less than a conventionally built house.

It so happens that the countries affected by natural disasters are among the poorest in the world.

The South Asian tsunami in December affected India, Thailand, and Indonesia, among other countries in the region. Also late last year, the Philippines experienced four typhoons that devastated Quezon and Aurora.

Similarly, there is also a correlation between poverty and war, as the countries with most armed unrest are among the poorest. The Philippines, especially Mindanao, may yet be a good example. All these leave a great majority homeless or in poor living conditions.

Though there are efforts made by government and private organizations to provide housing, unfortunately, conventional infrastructure solutions may still be too costly. Costs of materials — wood, cement and steel — have been going up through the years, as these are becoming more scarce and contribute to the degradation of the environment.

MyShelter Foundation, a non-profit organization, brought into the country a housing technology which may be an "uncommon" solution to this problem the housing backlog: dome houses made 80% with earth.

"It is best to look not only for a normal housing solution," said Illac Diaz, MyShelter founder and executive director, as there is a need to move away from industrial, West-oriented solutions.

During a forum held by the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), he said a house built using sandbag or earthbag technology could cost around P50,000 to P70,000, or 30% to 60% less than a conventionally built house.

Long spools of rice sacks are packed tightly with a waterproof mixture of earth and a small amount of cement. These are then stacked together on a circular trench two rice sacks deep.

In between the overlapping layers are barbed wires to hold the earth bags in place. The earth bags are stacked together forming a dome shape as guided by a large, compass-like tool.

To further waterproof and insulate the dome house and improve on its aesthetics, its outer and inner surfaces could be plastered.

A community of at least six persons could build these dome houses in days, he said. This not only eliminates costs but fosters cooperation and unity in the community.

The dome shape is preferred, Mr. Diaz said, as it is a repetition of the arch, considered to be the sturdiest shape in architecture, as pressure is equally distributed on all sides. Thus, the dome is a self-supporting structure that eliminates the need for pillars.

With its structure and materials — as well as its aerodynamic shape — the earthen dome house could be resilient to typhoons and earthquakes.

The house also provides ample ventilation, thus, eliminating the need for air temperature control system. This makes the house energy efficient, he said.

"Barbed wire, rice sacks and soil have been used as instruments of war," Mr. Diaz noted. "Why not make these instruments of peace?"

The technology was developed by American-Iranian architect Nader Khalili of the California Institute of Earth and Art Architecture and by Earth Architecture of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Communities of dome houses has already been built in Hesperia in California, USA and in Senegal.

MyShelter built a prototype dome house in poverty-ridden Escalante City, Negros Occidental, the first of such in Asia. Dubbed "Rio Dome," MyShelter built the prototype there on the request of Mr. Diaz’s late aunt, Rio Diaz-Cojuangco.

Escalante Mayor Santiago Barcelona Jr. is planning to have the prototype dome house as a tourism center in the city. The dome house in Escalante was built manually in 28 days. Mr. Diaz said the foundation is developing a system to mechanize the construction so the whole process could be done in 10 days, and to possibly mass-produce these.

MyShelter is collaborating with two internationally recognized inventors — Deorex Navaja and Bonar Laureto — who were able to transform bagas — waste ash from burning sugarcane — into commercial-grade cement.

As suggested in the forum, lahar, or mud overflow from the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, could also be used as it has a significant amount of silica.

Mr. Diaz, a 32-year-old multi-awarded entrepreneur and former commercial model, said this project is the beginning of numerous possibilities to solve the problem of lack of shelter.

For instance, if a community of dome houses is to be built, he said the same structure could be used for storing and collecting water. The earth bag technology could also be used to build schools, hospitals and even tourist attractions, he added.

As these dome-shape houses are also structures associated with the affluent, he agreed that the foundation could build these houses for the moneyed who want to have such houses. Of course, he said they would be charging higher and profits from these could fund community projects.

At the moment, he said the foundation is planning to set up a website dedicated to providing information in building such structures readily available. Also important is the mechanization of the construction process by the third quarter.

The next step, M. Diaz said, would be to acquire a building approval from the authorities. Nonetheless, he said, the design is already approved by the International Convention of Building Officials and by the government of California, which may be the strictest when it comes to building codes.

The foundation is also in need of funding grants to pursue the project.

What needs to happen, he said, is for such an out-of-the-box idea — especially those from the youth — to start coming in as solutions to already common problems.

"Maybe we should start listening to the young more," he said.

MyShelter started in its advocacy in providing shelters with its Pier One Dormitories project in Intramuros, Manila.

The project, which was aimed at providing a decent living to transient maritime workers who are forced to sleep in Luneta, now has a capacity of 1,000 beds and has provided job assistance to over 40,000 maritime workers.

Mr. Diaz, an alumnus of the AIM Center for Entrepreneurship, was an AIM Prestige Awardee in 2003 and the first Johnny Walker Social Entrepreneur Awardee in the Philippines in 2004.

Business Friday: German giant plants seeds of love for nature

BY CORRIE SALIENTES-NARISMA
Philippine Daily Inquirer; Jan 31, 2003

SOME companies pursue environmental projects just to comply with minimum standards set by the state.

There are, however, a few others that have gone way beyond the compliance stage. To them, caring for the environment is a commitment that has become an integral part of their corporate being.

German company Bayer AG belongs to the second category. Its involvement in the crusade for environmental protection started a hundred years ago, long before terms like "corporate social and environmental responsibility" and "sustainable development" took their present meaning.

Bayer AG had invested and is continuously investing billions of dollars in waste management facilities and other machinery and equipment that keep its operations throughout the world safe to the environment and the populace.

But its commitment to mother nature does not stop there. The company has gone beyond its premises to reach out and spread this passion for the environment and sustainable development as widely as possible.

And it is in pursuit of this goal that Bayer AG adopted the Young Environmental Envoy Program.

Young envoys

The program is specifically aimed at the youth for Bayer believes that "planting the seeds of love for nature" in their young minds and hearts now will ensure a greener and richer world in the future.

Udo Oels, a member of Bayer’s board of management, says the program aims to get young people to assume greater ownership of the environment and environmental activities.

Through the Young Environmental Envoy Program, carefully chosen participants are provided the means to understand the situation they are in and to explore solutions to environmental problems that they encounter.

‘Ecocamp’

The YEEP is a joint initiative of Bayer and the United Nations. From Thailand, where the project was born in mid 1990s, it spread to the Philippines, Singapore and India. And, for Bayer, there is no stopping there as it intends to take into the fold more countries in the coming years.  Every year, 10 to 20 young envoys are selected through a tight screening process in each covered country for participation in the program, which is highlighted by a week-long visit to Germany for the top five to seven envoys.

The program reached the Philippines in 2001. It is implemented here by Bayer in partnership with Luntiang Pilipinas Foundation (a Non-Governmental Organization that focuses on the environment) and in cooperation with the Commission on Higher Education.

Every year, Bayer Philippines picks program participants from among 18- to 23-year-old college students who are already involved in projects or organizations related to environmental preservation and sustainability. They are selected based on a grade-point average requirement (an average of not less than 2.0 or 85 percent) and on the essays on environmental issues that they are required to submit.

Last year, 13 students were selected-four from Metro Manila, three from Luzon, two from the Visayas and four from Mindanao-out of more than 200 who applied.

All the 13 envoys attended a three-day ‘ecocamp’ in Baguio City, which was facilitated by the environmental science department of the Ateneo de Manila University.

At the end of the ‘ecocamp,’ participants were asked to submit their personal action plans for implementation in the near term. The action plans must be ‘doable’ and high-impact projects, particularly in the communities they are intended for.

Based on these plans, five out of the 13 participants this year were selected for a week-long, all expense-paid trip to Germany, particularly in the municipality of Leverkusen, practically a "Bayer country" for it is where the company’s main operations and headquarters are located.

The envoys met with key Bayer officials, led by Oels, and were given a tour of the company’s and Leverkusen’s environmental facilities. They got to visit Bayer’s waste water treatment facility, lysimeter facility and thermal waste management plant; the Monheim Agriculture Center, and the Leverkusen Municipal Waste Management facility.

Personal missions

The five envoys from the Philippines who attended the ‘ecotour’ in Gemany last year were Bonar Laureto, a 20-year-old BS Biology senior at the Central Mindanao University; Jennifer Orbeso, a 19-year-old nursing student of the Universidad de Naga City; 21-year-old Stephanie Sunshine Sy, a BS Applied Economics student of the Dela Salle University Manila; 18-year-old Shenna Rhea Maranguit, an information technology student of the Immaculate Concepcion in Davao City, and Ivan Pumaren, a 20-year-old political science senior at the West Visayas State University.

Bonar, who at his tender age is already a multi-awarded inventor, was the appointed group leader.

He may have already invented lots of things, including a system to convert solid wastes from sugar land, but for his YEEP action plan, Bonar chose a simple but meaningful project-a non-industrial solid waste segregation program in the city of Valencia in his province Bukidnon.

An active youth leader and a youth-oriented radio program anchor, Jennifer has formulated and is now actually implementing a plan to establish an ‘ecopark’ on Mt. Isarog in Bicol. This is in line with her mission to intensify the greening activities in the area where she also intends to establish a seedling nursery and butterfly garden.

Sunshine presently resides and studies in Manila but her heart still belongs to her beloved hometown, Palawan, which has been slowly but surely rising again from the ruins left by the rampant logging that plagued the province not so long ago.

She adopted as her action plan a program which she calls "Pay It Green Forward Movement."

Sunshine’s program is aimed at providing livelihood options to marginal farmers in her area.

Noble missions

"Water is life," so says Shenna, the youngest of the five envoys, who had come to realize early on in her life how watershed areas in the country, particularly in Davao where she lives, were being threatened by industries, plantations and the people themselves.

This explains her resolve to pursue, for her YEEP action plan, the Sagip Watershed project, involving an intensive information campaign and tree planting activities that can prevent further soil erosion in her area.

Ivan, who was born and raised in the agricultural town of Pototan, Iloilo, dreams of becoming a diplomat or an international lawyer some day and he is working hard to attain this goal.

A simple guy with a noble mission of making a difference in his community, Ivan has for his action plan prepared a composting project that will address the problem of increasing organic and inorganic wastes from his area’s municipal market.

These projects are just dreams now but with the idealism of the envoys and their dedication to the protection of mother nature, chances are these dreams are going to be a reality soon.  Bayer has been bringing the environmental envoys to Germany not to give them a junket of a lifetime but for them to see for themselves what can be done to ensure a greener tomorrow.

Filipino makes finals in
Young Inventors Awards 2003
Manila Bulletin

A 22-year old student from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, gives Filipinos another reason to be proud of for qualifying as one of the 12 finalists of the Young Inventors Awards for 2003.

A project of the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Young Achievers Awards aims to encourage and honor the spirit of invention among students in the Asia Pacific region. Hewlett-Packard sponsors the awards for the 4th consecutive year in demonstration of its commitment to innovation and philanthropy.

Deorex David A. Navaja, an undergraduate in Materials Engineering, entered the finals for his invention that can purify solid waste by-products of sugar cane, which can cause respiratory diseases, and process it into commercial-grade cement.

The finalists come from a pool of 92 entries sent in by students from universities and other tertiary institutions throughout the region.

The entries cover fields of study and research ranging from the high-tech sciences of nanotechnology, medicine, and computing to more down to earth, but no less important fields such as agriculture, construction, and pollution-free energy production.

All entries were evaluated on their originality, presentation, potential impact on humanity, and commercial feasibility.

Navaja invention was conceptualized in his hometown in Musuan, Bukidnon, specifically for a high school chemistry project.

Living near several sugar milling factories, Navaja and a friend observed how sugar cane by-products were just piled and left unattended after it has been processed by these factories. They noted that these by-products posed a serious threat to their community since they are potential causes of respiratory diseases.

With their inventive minds going to work, Navaja and his friend took some waste samples and had them analyzed. Eventually, it was found that these sugar cane by-products have the same components similar to those needed to make commercial cement. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Navaja said that by joining the Young Inventors Awards, he hopes to see the project come into fruition and realize the projects goal.

With this project, we hope to be able to provide Filipinos with a cheaper, yet comparable alternative to commercial cement. At the same time, we can help sugar milling companies reduce their waste and, instead, turn into usable raw materials.

Navaja added that he considers himself lucky to be included as one of the finalists, knowing how tough the competition would be.

"I feel extremely proud to be included in the finals, although I wasn’t expecting it. I will do my best and give my fellow Filipinos something to be proud of."

January 18, 2004