Muntinlupa National High School gave the Philippines a huge reason to celebrate following their huge win at the recently held 2019 Zayed Sustainability Prize at the World Future Energy Summit, part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, where they won a grant of $100,000 (Php 5.2 million) for their Revitalized Algae Microfarm Project (RevAMP).
The Muntinlupa National High School was one of the only four schools shortlisted to win the Global High Schools category – East Asia and Pacific category. Their project, RevAMP, was a proposal to build a solar-powered micro-farm with photo-bioreactors to promote efficient algae cultivation for algae products that provide feedstock and are related to energy, water, food, and health.
Ambassador Hjayceelyn Quintana who was in attendance during the opening ceremonies of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week noted the prestige of the award as it was given in the presence of the UAE’s rulers and heads of states from different countries. “This is about sustainability, and what Muntinlupa National High School has shown is how they could impact the local communities in the Philippines with their project. And it promotes so much awareness on how to have a sustainable future that could impact even energy security and food security. So I’m very, very happy and at the same time, very, very proud,” shares Quintana.
The delegation team from the Philippines included Dr. Mauro C. De Gulan (Schools Division Superintendent), Dr. Florante C. Marmeto (Principal IV), Mrs. Ma. Regaele A. Olarte (Head Teacher III). Mr. Jason B. Albaro (Teacher II), and Maria Eliza May M. Faldas (Selected Student of MNHS).
The RevAMP Project
RevAMP is spearheaded by Olarte and Albaro, which envisions a scalable local microfarm to produce high-value products from Green Algae (Chlorella vulgaris) which are sustainable and profitable. Their project was chosen out of 300 other schools in their category with over 2,000 entries this year.
Olarte shares that their project cultivates the green algae the chlorella vulgaris species with the help of bioreactors that grow the species that they want to harvest. “This algae, when cultivated and harvested, it can offer lots of benefits in the field of food, medicine, health, and of course energy because it can be converted to biofuel.”
After going through several processes of cultivation and harvest, products that the algae can yield include food supplements with chlorella growth factor for children, a superfood ingredient for different recipes, for medicine with its beneficial phytochemicals, biofuel for energy purposes, and more. “In that way, we could answer all the problems that we are experiencing in our community that we really want to address,” said Olarte.
Apart from growing the Algae, the school has also taken strides in spreading the word about microalgae cultivation through the construction of the Zayed Community Hub which will act as a community center for knowledge sharing, consultancy, and other administrative tasks to aid the facilitation and implementation of RevAMP outside the confines of the school.
Moving Forward
Schools Division Superintendent Dr. De Gulan said that the next steps would be to patent the project and to supervise its implementation in the Philippines. “We would like to replicate the program in other schools in Muntinlupa. Right now we are targeting two schools – the Muntinlupa Sciences School and one integrated school. But definitely we need to coordinate with the regional director of the DepEd including our DepEd Secretary for full implementation of the program. Consistent, continuous yung training and advocacy campaign namin for the program,” shares De Gulan.
Ambassador Quintana said that this proves that Filipinos continue to show to the world that they can excel and compete in different fields: “This group has put Muntinlupa on the world map, and this is really going to transform the image of the city where they come from. I am very, very much excited about that because I think it is about time that we really show to the whole world what we are capable of and I hope that many people would be inspired.”
Muntinlupa National High School joins this year’s list of winners for the 2019 Zayed Sustainability Prize which includes the following entities:
– We Care Solar (Health Category)
– BBOXX (Energy Category)
– Sanku (Food Category)
– ECOSOFTT (Water Category)
– Gymnasium Goethe (Global High School Category – Europe and Central Asia)
– American School Of Dubai (Global High School Category – Middle East and North Africa)
– African Leadership Academy ( Global High School Category – Sub- Saharan Africa)
– SECMOL (Global High School Category – South Asia)
– The Impact School (Global High School Category – The Americas)
In 2008’s World Future Energy Summit, HH General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the UAE, launched the Zayed Future Energy Prize as a tribute to his father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his legacy of sustainability in the UAE.
Fast forward to the present, the Zayed Sustainability Prize, managed by Masdar in Abu Dhabi has brought forth world-class, innovative, renewable energy solutions.
Mrs. Ma. Regaele A. Olarte (Head Teacher III) shares insights on their Revitalized Algae Microfarm Project (RevAMP) that won a grant of $100,000 (Php 5.2 million) at the 2019 Zayed Sustainability Prize at the Global High Schools category – East Asia and Pacific here:
